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ClassTES^im 
Boole 



THE 

PURSUITS 



OF 



LITERATURE 

A SATIRICAL POEM 
IN FOUR DIALOGUES 

WITH 

NOTES. 



Pries 12*. 6d. in Boards, 



h JAQUES? L0W ^ SLOAXE STE^ir, CHICLE 






<*^~^ 









/ THE V 



PURSUITS 

OF 

LITERATURE 

A SATIRICAL POEM 
IN FOUR DIALOGUES 



WITH NOTES. 

Athenagoree Atbeniensis Legatio Imperatoribus Antonino et Commodo. 
Ad fin. Op. Justin. Martyr. Xd, Pans 1636, pag. 39. 

Ays $y xcufuv (anfin;) %wf£t, 
Kat era^ ttoXiv t*ji> '>jjtA£Tepai» 
Tvuiia.11; ccyct^xa;, auiircn^ivcrov 

Aristophan. Ran. v. 1543. 



THE THIRTEENTH EDITION 

^VITH 

THE CITATIONS TRANSLATED. 



Eontion ; 

PRINTED FOR T. BECKET, 81, PALL MALL. 

38Q5. 



"C^V*-*---/^ 



l?05 



Hac igo pieria solus meditabar in umbra, 

DUM THAMESIS MEUS ET (QUONDAM MEa) GRANTA TAVIIaN?^ 

Nativa fretus cithara fidieusque severis 

InGENTES AUSUS PATRI.E EENIRE LABORES. 



In perming the Kotes to the Pursuits of Literature, the Reader is requested 
tg attend particularly to their respective dates. 



By Transfer 
Dept. of State 

DEC 1 1935 



THE PREFACE.^ 



Nyv, a Qskrurrs. K^^icrdipwv, 01V otot arot ei&iv hi ns; vsf* 
rilAwv "koyus £[X^ocKXovrs<; s; ms ox,\»s" oftX* wffTrsp aei ocTTpxxroi 
ccurcov cci xootai yXcacaoci syevovro, x.ai ysKajroc sz; <zvrcov km 

VAOQSy «SeV TTXSOV, «WpXi(TX38VOV, X#i VWV tffO*, OTl «)t 5K7T pXXTOl 

fAOVov, ocW* vni xocxco <r<p«nv saovrxi, Sy /xevto* sl> "zroisiir tt^i 
turuv fiiJuv ypoctpcovi ssarei&wep otsi ^puv ^a^speiV aXV cbcrirsp 
su ttoisi; ypxtpouv, htws «£wesv (pn<rauij£ av ^//.ar, avriXsyovra 
vvb? uvtm TOI2 OTK AHIOI2. 

Euripidis Epist. ex Macedonia ad amicum suura 
Cephisophontem. Eurip. Op. Edit. Barnes. Part. 2. pag. 529. 



I HAVE again revised the Poem on the Pursuits of Li. 
terature with considerable care, as I am of opinion that 
no man of candour and reflection could wish to see any 
mistakes, in a work so extensive, continued without cor- 
rection, nor the various parts of it presented to the pub- 
lic without such improvements, alterations, and additions 
to the poetry and the notes, as circumstances have arisen 
to prompt or to require. This is all which I have done 

from 

(a) This Preface was first published in December iSooj 
some passages have beew added since* (May 1803,) 

a 



[ vi ] 

from time to time; and though words are irrevocable, yet 
the last corrections of any author should be considered as 
the sense which he wishes to enforce. 

Impertinence and falshood I have at all times equally 
despised, and equally neglected. It will be seen how- 
ever that by omissions and alterations I have manifested a 
liberal concern for my unintentional mistakes, with the 
spirit and breeding of a gentleman, a character which I 
never will forfeit nor resign deliberately, but with my 
life. " Of all the Bceotian Critics who have written 
" scurrilously against me, there is not indeed one whom a 
" writer of reputation would not wish to have his enemy. 
•' To my authorship they are heartily welcome. Rome 
" permitted her slaves to calumniate her best citizens in 
" the day of triumph." (b) 

Eh! qui veut rassembler aux grenouilles d' Homere, 
Implorant a grands cris le fier Dieu de la guerre, 
Et les dieux des enfers, et Bellone, et Pallas, 
Et les foudres des cieux, — pour se venger des rats P 

For as to the smarting scribblers, cumbrous black-letter 
pedants, and translating poetasters of the day, incidentally 
mentioned in the poem, with all their little bundles of 
answers and remarks nameless and forgotten, I would only 
conduct them before the statue of Marsyas, (c) to read 

their 

■ i » ' " ■■ •■ « " * * — ' — . . . i . ,i 

{b) Warburton's Preface to Pope's Works. 

(c) The statue of Marsyas, (the Phrygian Satyr who chal- 
lenged Apollo, and being vanquished by him suffered severely 
as an example) was set up at the entrance of the Forum in Rome, 
and Horace says," Obeundus Marsya;" for the plain English 
of which see Mr. Bosgawen's Translation. 

Indeed 



[ vii ] 

their fate in all the impotent irritation of satirical puberty : 
the passions of men they can never feel. The only shield 
I shall ever oppose to their assaults is the Volume itself* 

Egli medesmo prese 
La tasca, e dallo scud'o dipartilla, 
E fe* il lume di quel chiaro e palese \ 
L'iricantato splendor, che ne sfavilla^ 
Gli occhi degli avversari cosi offe'se; 
Che gli fe* restar ciechi allora allora, 
E cader chi da poppa, e chi da prora. (d) 

But to speak in a lighter and more ethereal strain of these 
Boeotian critics, Dr. Darwin, (whose poetry and philo- 
sophical ideas, whenever they are understood, are so 
Universally admired,) offers me kindly a few exquisite 
lines applicable to them, in his celebrated description of 
*■ the two celestial Bears, major and minor, dancing round 
the pole, and parted by Draco /" 

O che leggiadro e gra%loso hallo I 

I hope the reader will comprehend the Doctor's sublime 
original ; but in my humble metaphorical application, it is 
as plain as the dance of the Sun, Moon, and Earth in the 
Rehearsal. 

Mark 



Indeed modern Translators and Makers of verses seldom give 
occasion for the inimitable simplicity of Agnes's question m 
Moliere's Ecole des Femmes; 

" Si les enfans qu' on fait, sc faisoient [iar Voreille f * 

(d) Ariosto, Cant. 10. St. 50. 

* Act. i, Se,r, 

a 2 



[ via ] 

Mark, (e) with vast convolution Draco holds 
The ecliptic axis in his scaly folds ! 
O'er half the skies his neck enormous rears, 
And with immense maeanders parts the Bears; 
Onward the kindred Bears with footsteps rude 
Dance round the pole, pursuing and pursued J (/) 

But to return to this nether world and it's concerns. 

I am more and more convinced that Literature must be 

considered 

{e) What does the reader mark in all Dr. Darwin's poetry 
and philosophy ? for my own part, I mark and see too frequently 
in this very ingenious man and most excellent Physician, (for 
such he undoubtedly is) Martinus Scriblerus himself in 
exultation at his own discoveries, and in sovereign contempt 
over his Brother Albertus. See Martinus's Memoirs ; See 
Dr. Darwin's ceconomy of vegetation ; See Chaos exploding ! 
See Stars projected from Chaos by explosions ; See the Earth 
thrown from a Solar Volcano ! The Moon (per contra) thrown 
from a terrestrial Volcano 1 See Ice-lands (on a principle 
of economy among the Sovereigns of the northern hemisphere, 
and to prevent the wasting of the public money in unnecessary 
wars,) See (I repeat it,) Ice-Islands navigated by their united 
labours from north to south!!! &c &c. Ccelum ipsum petimus 
stultitia. The passage to which I allude is the following: 

" If the nations who inhabit this hemisphere of the globe, 
INSTEAD of destroying their Seamen and exhausting their wealth in 
unnecessary wars, could be induced to unite their labours /« 
navigate these immense masses of ice into the more southern 
oceans, two great advantages would result to mankind, &c.&c."!!!! 

Dr. Darwin's own words. 3ee the GEconomy of Vegetation. 
Cant. i. page 60. 8vo edition. 1799. What can the Doctor 
mean r (Dec. 1800.) 

(/) Darwin's Botanic Garden, Part I. or The (Economy of 
Vegetation, Canto 1. v. 517. 



[ i* ] 

considered in all its departments, and not only the subject 
but the mode (g) of composition must be examined. 

I have 

(g) In particular I would obferve tnat the modern style 
of Biography seems to call for some animadversion. When 
the examples of great men, poets,, statesmen^ or philoso- 
phers are to be delivered to (he world, the office of the Bio- 
grapher is arduous, and requires no common talents. But now 
the unequalled simplicity of Plutarch, the sense and spirit f of 
Johnson, and the discriminating taste of* Mason, are lost 
in the disgusting modern language of affectation and the cant 
of sensibility. The Namby-pamby school of the Crusca must not 
be suffered to revive either in verse or in prose. 

On the subject of the present mode of Biography and Memoir- 
writing, I am happy to be able to present the reader with a letter 
said to be written to a friend by one of that species of Literati 
called *« The Fashionables J"* when he was preparing a collection 
of Letters and Memoirs for publication, but I cannot answer 
for it's authenticity though it has all the internal marks of an 
original ! The following is an exact copy. 

" My Dear Sir, March 19, 2803. 

I am so delighted with the literary treasures which I communi- 
cated to you lately, that I feei impatient to offer them to the pub- 
lic, but I am solicitous to secure myself and at the same time to 
partake of a reasonable profit, which I think must result from 
the work. Being rather diffident, and dreading " the presumptuous 
sentence of periodical criticism^ I called on my oid acquaintance 
Mr. Wirewove Hotpress, (who is a most " amiable" Book- 
seller and an " enchanting" man) for his opinion ; and I laid be- 
fore him my account of nearly three hundred and fifty nine Folio 
Volumes of state-papers in M. S. which I had discovered, and a 
large collection of private letters and M.S. verses of some ce- 
lebrated poets and statesmen; and I hinted at what might be 
done, if I were encouraged by so enlightened a judge. Mr. 
Wirewove Hotpress '* glowed with peculiar warmth and eagerness 1 ' 
at my proposal, which he said he fully understood, without seeing 

a 3 a line 

f With a faw exceptions. * Life of Cray, 



[ * ] 

I have indeed endeavoured to look far into the service 
of the time, and I have been instructed by some of the 

best 

a line of the M.S. He said he was convinced of their excellence ; 
and if I could but ei weave into the texture of my memoirs 1 '' an ex- 
tensive collection of private letters and posthumous rhymes, he 
would answer for the success. He hinted that it was not very 
material how silly and uninteresting the greater part of them 
rmgut be, if they were but originals, with a facsimile of the 
hand-writings, if possible. He hinted also that if the compo- 
sition could be spun out (Mr. Wire wove Hotpress is very exact 
in his metaphors) into three or more large volumes in roya] 
quarto with a price highly gratifying to purchasers after a long 
war, or at the commencement of a new one, he would take upon 
himself to say, that such a work would " continue to sparkle 
tl in the eyes of all men, like the radiant sfa? of the evening, 
P perpetually hailed by the voice of gratitude „ affection, and 
" delight /" When 1 proceeded to explain more minutely the 
extent of my work, Mr. Wire wove, with an ingenuous suscepti- 
bility, assured me that he saw that " there was a principle 
of unperishabic vitality" in my composition, though it might 
chance to be a little unequal in some of it's parts; for that very 
eloquent man said, there might be i( calamitous eclipses of the most 
effulgent mind ;" and if, he added, in if wea-ving your texture" you 
should sometimes be a little unintelligible, it was common to 
many of the greatest geniusses of the day, literary or political, 
from existing circumstances. I told him, I believed I was not 
without fire in the ardour of composing and connecting ; 
though I modestly excepted myself* frcm the numler of poets, to 
which exception he readily agreed. Oh, I understand you, 
said the " enchanting" creature, (though I believe he was a little 
sly, which I afterwards discovered) your "fire is so refined and 
•' cethereal that it cannot he expected to shine in the gross atmosphere 
M of worldly contention." I hope, Mr. Wire wove, you don't 

mean 

sr- — — : ; ; ~ =~ ' 

* Horace and Mr. Hayley (with an amiuble sympathy) unite in this opinion 

pf themselves. Sec Mr. H. s Letter to Earl Cowper prefixed to his life of the 

Poet. 



r *; 3 

best, the noblest, and the wisest men whom ancient and 

modern 

mean that — (for I did not quite comprehend his metaphor 
about i( worldly contention" and I really thought he hinted that 
the work might not bustle through the world, or in other 
terms,that it might not sell ;) — Oh, not at all, said he, I am as in- 
nocent as yourself of any meaning whatsoever; it must sell, if 
your memoirs are but " copious and produced with all becoming 
dis/iatca." — I have the pleasure to say that I agreed with Mr. 
Wirewove Hotpress for — (you may guess what,) and this winter 
you may expect three royal 410, volumes, and in the spring 
two more, as copious as the French military spawn in Egypt, 
When the work is actually in the press you shall hear further. 

Your's, &c. &c." 

W. C. H. 

N. B, The reader will perceive that the writer of this letter is 
peculiarly versed in the phraseology of Mr. Hayley in bis lifs 
of the poet Cowper, (lately publifhed) from which he has 
culled a few (and a very few) of the choicest flowers of language 
and metaphors verbatim. It is unnecessary to mark the pages 
from Mr. Hayley *s work whence they are all taken. 

As to the publication itself, the letters of a great Poet must al- 
ways command attention on their first appearance, and we are 
obliged to an Editor of such compositions. Of Mr, Cowper'sLet* 
ters many are excellent and very interesting, but the greater part 
of them might have been supprefled, particularly those so deeply 
tinctured with the religion of Calvin, which is now spreading 
in this Country in so fatal a manner, while .it's votaries 
forget that this system " seems to rest (as it is well expressed 
by one of our greatest Divines*) on this execrable foundation, 
that God is a Tyrant." The effects of it are too visible, and 
will long continue to disturb the disturbed. 

Mr. Hayley's language, in the connecting parts pf the work, is 
$uch a sartago loquendi as I have seldom seen, and which I mark 

a 4 witk 

* Dr. Balguy (of Winchester's) Discourses, Disc, 4 p. 59. 



[ *y ] 

modern ages have produced; and till years steal on and 
wear me out of action I will, if occasion should offer, yet 
stand forth in the same common cause. Sic Drancis diets, 
refellam. 

But we should all remember, that in an empire extent, 
sive, opulent, luxurious, and commercial like Great Bri- 
tain, many new regulations and new ordinances founded 
on constitutional principles must be expected, and loudly 
called for in the days of general convulsion. Lakes and 
quiet streams may be bounded safely by banks of verdure 
and flowers; but the ocean, turbulent and tempestuous, 
can be confined alone by rocks and mountains. We have 
given to the surrounding nations the example of steadi- 
ness, of unanimity, of a fixed aversion to political change, 
and of the loftiest refusal of all submission to t^e com- 
mon FOE AND UNIVERSAL TYRANT, in Our COlinciU 

and actions abroad and at home. 

I am decidedly convinced that the principles of Repub- 
lican 

with regret on such a topic; for it Is affected and flimsy, 
with idle tautology and ridiculous metaphors: Mr. H.'s sen- 
timents also are sometimes very exceptionable. Mr. Cowper's 
posthumous verses are in general far too trifling for the public 
inspection, and should have been omitted ; but, aliter non fit, 
Avite, Liber. Above all, in drawing the picture of the Poet, 
humanity and good sense equally required that the judgment 
of Timanthes should have been exercised. 

This excellent and virtuous Man, Mr. Cowper, must be 
considered as claiming the title of a Poet chiefly from The 
Task, which is a work equally sublime, pathetic, interesting 
tnd original. 

Custodiat urnam 

Cana Fides, vigilentque perenni lampade Musae. 

(May, 1803.) 
Dr. 



[ xiii 3 

lican or Confular France, wherever they are introduced, mo^ 
ciified, or disguised, can never ultimately suffer the existence 
of any one ancient or present institution or establishment, 
political or religious, in this kingdom, c?r in any state in 
Europe or in Asia. It is idle, or rather it is wicked, to sup- 
pose that we can now be lulled into such a false security, 
and sleep the sleep of death under the torpor of such a 
desperate and wilful credulity. 

I trust Great Britain will never be delivered over by 
her Ministers, bound hand and foot, tp a directorial or to a 
consular dynasty. No : though under the severest pressure 
and the most acknowledged perils, our glory is not tarnished; 
cur possessions are increased; our monarchal 

SUPREMACy ON THE OCEAN IS CONFIRMED. Mr. Pitt 
(to whose deep classical erudition every scholar will 
assent, and who must know and feel the affinity which a 
poet bears to an orator,) may possibly remember, or he wili 
certainly read with pleasure, the following lines, at once tri- 
umphant and affecting, in the d#rk but sublime Monodia of. 
the Poet of Chalcis. 

©AAA22H2 XKHOTPA KM MONAPXIAN 

AABONTE2 ! — «x a/xvooo-rov, oSXiOj riaroxf, 
K.v$os (AupzvQev Gyxa.Tuxpv-^sis Qotpoj I (/<:] 

The enthusiasm of literary men may awhile he led astray 
by an undiscerning predilection for the republics of anti- 
quity, and the fasces which preceded Cato and the elder 
Brutus. But I hope there never will be found, either now 
or hereafter in Great Britain, a Muse so servile, so degraded, 
so lost, so forgetful of her honour and of her high preroga- 
tive, as to offer incense at the throne, or at the shrine* of a 
French Confal reeking with the innocent blood of unoffend- 
ing Egypt, and haughty from the desolation of Marengo. 

We 

(Z) Lycophron. Alexandra, v. 1229. 



[ m ] 

We must remember the origin and progress of the French 
Revolution, for we Feel it in all it's consequences throughout 
JLuxope, Asia and America. I wish to present the Picture of 
ihe state ot Europe as drawn in the year 1794, that it may not 
pass from our mind without the illustration of Poetry, (z) 

Through Europe's bounds, 'tis her devoted age, 
Fires from within and central thunders rage : (£) . 
On Gallia's shores I mark the unhalio*v'd pow'r, 
Her godless regents feel the madd'ning hour, 
Dread architects of ruin and of crime, 
In revolution's permanence sublime, 
And cruel nonsense ! o'er the astcnish'd World 
The nag of dire equality unfurl'o, 
Drizzling with blood of millions, streams in air ; 
The scroll, fraternal freedom, death, despair ! 
They pass: nor Rhine nor Rubicon they know ; 
Torrents may roar, or tranquil streams may flow, 
In unappali'd protrusion on they burst, 
All nations cursing, by all nations curst. 
Lo, Belgium yields to unresisted fate ; 
H r ithin her ministers of terror wait : 
Nature with rod petrific smites the iand ? 
And binds the floods in adamantine band, 
Till Gallia's Chief in right of William sways, 
And Freedom, once with life-drops bought, obeys. 
See, where di^member'd trembling Spain resigns 
Peruvians radiance, and Potcsi's mines: 
The pillars of The. Eternal City bow, 
And the tiara from the Pontiff's brow 
Drops to the dust, no mere in Peter's fane 
The Consistorial Brotherhood shall reign. 

(/) See the Imperial Epistle from Kien Long Emperor of China 
to George the 3d. (v. 366, &c.) translated by the author of the 
P. of L. 

The delineation of Consular France yet remains for a future 
Poet. 



£ m 1 

^fet see; the turban nods by factions torn ; 

A lengthening, sad, and sullen sound is born£ 

Around Sophia's hallow'd conscious walls, 

Mutt'ring the doom denounced : her Crescent falls* 

Still view, in western (/) climes Death's palest horse 

With pestilence and slaughter marks his course, 

While dusky tribes, with more than maniac rage 

Rending their brazen bonds, in war engage: 

^or France still burns to make, with dire intent, 

Hell and this world one realm, (m) one continent i 

When I have contemplated this Picture, I am indeed very 
grateful for the name and rights of an Englishman, and % 
have been awakened to join in the endeavour to preserve 
them. I confess that I have a settled contempt for nonsense 
and sophistry; and I feel a sharpness in my nature against 
every species of innovation which is hazardous and unne- 
cessary, and against the very approach of that political re-. 
form, which must prove the certain harbinger and vaunt 
courier of revolution, democracy, and all the variety of 
wickedness and of horror. 

The charge of malignity, or of ill-nature, against the per- 
son of any individual, as such, I utterly disclaim and so- 
lemnly deny, because it is not true. If however my wri- 
tings should descend to other times, I will, with resDect 
to that charge and to the sincerity of my intentions, confi- 
dently address myself to them in the language of poetry an4 
of truth ; 

Sancta ad vos Anima, atque istlus imcia culfiee, 
Descendam doctorum haud unquam oblitus avorum. 

But in a composition, like the Pursuits of Literature, when 
judgment is to be given on men, their works, their actions, 
and their writings in the hour of instant danger, it is impos- 
sible 

{I) The Weft Indies. 
f m) A verse from Milton P. L. 



[ xv * 3 

&ible to set off one quality by another. We have unfor- 
tunately lived to see and hear men, in comparison of whom 
Bolingbroke was humble, Mikon was mild, and Hobbes 
was rational. On all the great and master principles, which 
maintain and invigorate the life and the healthful existence 
of this kingdom and of all civilized states, the public opi- 
nion must now be concentrated with as little divergence as 
possible. For this powerful and unanswerable reason, if 
men of birth and fortune, Senators or Statesmen, are found 
virtually conspiring, or contributing by different means with 
men of the lowest classes of society, to produce the same 
effect, I mean, the subversion of their Country and it's Con^ 
stitution ; their rank is then annihilated, the political distance 
between them is lost, and they must appear together on the 
same canvas and in the same colours. We are tired of 
Gallic phrases, the honours of the sitting, and the fraternal 

kiss, [n) 

Consumpta est fabula vulgi, 

Et cantata diu riserunt Oscula Cives. 

But of Gallic principles, sentiments, and resolutions we 
must hold another language. Formerly indeed it was 
esteemed a crime to scatter abroad ambiguous expres- 
sions among the people. But now when all govern- 
ments 

(«) It reminds me of a book written by Sir John Birkenhead 
in the time of thecivil wars, entitled, " tjie Children's 
" Dictionary, being an exact collection of all new words 
" horn since November 3, 1640; in speeches, prayers, and sermons, 
*' as well those that signify something, as those that signify 
4i nothing." In the last edition of the French Academy's Dic- 
tionary, just printed at Paris, there is an Appendix, something 
like the Children's Dictionary, of the " Sans-Cuiottides, the 
" Decadaires" &c. &c Such is the varied jargon which hypo- 
crisy invented and blattered forth in the last century, and Ja- 
cobinism has revived in the present age. 

Saepe 

Bilem, ssepe jocum tanti movere tumuituj ! 



[ x vii ] 

ments and establishments are shaking around us, we are t& 
be told with effrontery and impunity in public papers which 
pass from hand to hand, through cities, towns, and villages, 
that, where there is no despotism there is no usurpation, and 
that the authority of an ufurper, while he conforms to laws 
of his own making, is legal. What is this but to overthrow 
the principle of all just obedience, and the basis of every es- 
tablished government ? What is it but to invite the subjects 
of every kingdom to revolution and open rebellion, from the 
example of a fortunate soldier^. But I hope still, that the; 
People of this country will for ever remember, and act 
under the impression of the words of an ardent, powerful, 
and eloquent writer, that " From the beginning of the world 
" to this day, there never was any great public OR 
** private villainy acted by men, and submitted to, 
•■ but upon the strength of some great fallacy put upon 
V their minds by a false representation of good for evil, 
■■ and of evil for good." 

We cannot now, and I trust we never shall, consent to 
hear the raving oi Clubs declared to be the national opinion ; 
and in the same sentence, to hear that national opinion declar- 
" ed to possess a just authority over the proceedings of the 
" Legislature." (z) I think that the Essence of the Jaco- 
bin 

(*) Read the Declaration of the Whig Club on January iy, 
1796, signed, Charles James Fox ! fn the copy now before 
me, printed for R. White, Piccadilly, 1796, this Declaration is 
asserted to be the composition of Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Erskine, 
Mr. Francis, all Members of Parliament, and of Mr. James 
Mackintosh, whois#<nu (A. D. 1800.) a Reader of Public Lec- 
tures on theLaw of Nature and Nations in the Hall of Lincoln's 
Inn, in pursuance of an order of that Honourable Society * I appe?l to 
printed pamphlets, and to matters of fact ; but in this instance I 
shall leave the comment to the reader. Dec. 1800. 

*^See the words in the title-page of Mr. Mackintosh's Introductory Dis- 
course, 3d edit. CadeH. 18,50. 



[ xviii ] 
bin Club-doctrine, in what country soever such Clubs JM 
instituted and continued, may be properly and adequately stated 
(and may ail the loyal and reflecting subjects in Great Britain 
and Ireland never forget their inevitable tendency and irre- 
versible conclusion !J to consist in these positions ; namely l 

" To call the People of any country the Sovereign Power 
" in opposition to the lawful, permanent, and established 
" authority vested in the Governors of it: 

" To call the sense of Clubs associated the sense of that 
" Sovereign People: 

" That when those Clubs have thought proper to deliver 
" and publish their doctrines and resolutions, to declare 
" that the sovereign People have in effect spoken 
" their will: 

" That in consequence of this their sovereign 
" will, the measures of a government are to be changed, 
'• ministers deposed, a King dethroned, and a constitution 
** regenerated ! 

" That further, as these momentous concerns are earned 
41 on chiefly in the metropolis of any kingdom, it is virtu- 
•' ally to declare, that the sense of the disaffected part of 
*• the People of that metropolis is the controlling 
*' power of the State ; as the Government and it's Minis- 
" ters can neither be overawed, nor seized Upon in any other 
"place;— and particularly as all the other disaffected 
•' Clubs in the country establish their doctrines and 
" found their resolutions on the grand Metropolitan Heresy." 

Such is the spirit of that informe Cadaver, of that shape- 
less body which has been dragged forth and exposed to the 
light of heaven. For we must never suffer this truth to pass 
from our minds, namely that, 

To preserve the Metropolis is to preserve 
the Empire. 

Tropica 



[ xix ] 

Prodita dum laxant portarum claustra Tyrannis, 
Magnum aliquod dubiapro Libertate decehit! 

Jacobinism in her natural, ferocious, and unsoftened fea- 
tures has for a season slunk away from the public loathing 
in Great Britain ; but we may depend upon it, she yet " lies 
*' couching head on ground, with catlike watch;" though 
in this country the Monster has Lost many of her offspring, 
whom true reason and sober philosophy have torn from her. 
Deserta sub antro 

Accubat Ilia jacens! ubi enim quihus ubera pascat, 

Autquosingenti premat exspectata ruina? 

Hactenus anna, tubae, ferrumque, et vulnera. (k) 

But surely the most powerful light should still continue to be 
thrown on her secret caverns and skulking places; for the 
sleeping and the inactive will be her prey. We have rea- 
son still to watch over our safety, while so many of the ori- 
ginal principles of Jacobinism are not only unretracted but 
solemnly avowed, and openly renewed at stated periods, 
by men who would be thought. worthy of high political trust, 
and of their Country's best confidence and consideration. 

Idle compliments however, timid compromising, fatal half- 
measures, and the false politeness of submission to names 
must not once be heard or at such a time, when the powers 
of darkness, of tyranny, of: ignorance, and of sophistry are 
set in array against us. 

We are not fallen : we may yet travel on in the greatness 
©f our imparted strength, since we know in what and in 
whom we have trusted. We must also preserve the dignity 
of Learning in all her original brightness and integrity, for 
we are not in the ruins of ovk Athens; but in the walks" 
of Literature, of true philosophy, and of unshrinking 
eloquence, we have yet something more to shew ^han the 
Lantern of Demosthenes. 

Ih 
(*) Stat. Theb. L 10. . 



C « ] 

In conclusion, I would observe that the following of 
similar words, or the substance of them, are recorded to 
have been delivered in Parliament a few years before the 
Rebellion in 1745. I shall apply the spirit of them to the 
enemies of the principles of this work on the Pursuits of 
Literature, but not to the enemies of the work itself. The 
words are these :* " The heat which has offended them 
" is the ardour of conviction, and that zeal for the service 
•' of my country, which neither hope nor fear shall influence 
•' me to suppress. I will not sit unconcerned wheri 
*' (public) Liberty is threatened or invaded ; nor look in 
" silence on (intended) public Robbery; I will exert 
" my endeavours, at whatever hazard, to drag the aggres- 
" sors to justice, whoever may protect them, or whoever 
" may (ultimately) partake of the national plun- 
•• der!" 

It is remarkable that the Speaker was William Pitt, and the 
Reporter, Samuel Johnson. But whether the words were 
ever spoken, and faithfully reported, or only ingeniously 
invented and applied, the substance of ehem I adopt and 
publicly profess as my unequivocal sentiments, as far as 
they can be applicable to any endeavours, or to any labours 
of mine. 

With the same firmness therefore^ and with the same 
unabated, deliberate confidence of intention with which 
I first submitted this volume to the public, I again respect- 
fully offer it to the serious regard and impartial judgment 
of the Britiih Nation. 

DoCTRINiE H£C VlKDFX GeNIO MONITA ALT A Br ITA KKO. 

* Dr- Johnson's Parliamentary Debates in 1741, vol. 1. p. 307* 

TO 



[ xx i ) 



TO THE READER. 



Apnco? QavEtia. 
<&a[xa. Ilacpvaccs 

TON AAHAON ANAPA v*vt % ixnuml * 



I recommend the following anecdote to sagacious 
persons, who know all authors (and me among the 
rest) by their style, or by any other certain or 
infallible sign. The anecdote is known to those 
who are accurately versed in literary history, 

Julius Scaliger wrote and published an oration, 
without his name, against the celebrated tract by 
Erasmus, called Ciceronianus. Erasmus, having 

b -perused 

? Soph. JEd. T. v. 481. 



£ xxii ] 

perused it, immediately, (and upon conviction as 
he thought,) fixed upon Hieronimus Aleander, 
who was afterwards made an Archbishop by LeoX. 
and a Cardinal by Pope Paul the Third, as the 
author of the whole, or of the greatest part of it, 
by signs which he conceived to be certain and 
infallible. These signs were strong indeed ; his 
phraseology, his manner of speaking, his peculiar 
diction, his habits of life, and even the very 
intercourse which Erasmus had daily with him-. 
Nay, his genius and disposition were so evident, 
that Aleander could not be more intimately known, 
to himself, than he was to Erasmus. 

Yet Erasmus was mistaken entirely. 

His judgment and sagacity will not be questioned ; 
but hear his own words, for on such an occasion, as 
the present, they are particularly remarkable. 
<s Ex phrasi, ex ore, ex locutione, aliisque complu- 
" ribus, mihi persuasi hoc opus, maxima saltern 
" ex parte, esse Hieronimi Aleandri. Nam mihi 
iC Genius illius ex domestico convictu adeo cognitus 

per- 



[ xxiii .]. 

cf perspectusque est, ut ips^e sibi non possit esse 
« potior !!" (a) 

I recommend this anecdote to the consideration 
©f those persons who from random conjecture, 
without any knowledge, or any proof whatsoever,, 
continue to ascribe the following work to men, 
who are all equally guiltless of my labours, and all 
equally ignorant of my intentions, (b) But I 

believe, 

(a) Erasmi Epist. 370. c. 1755. Op. Fol. Ed. Opt. Lugd. 

(b) There is a pleasant passage in one of Pascal's Provincial 
Letters, in which the Author and a Father Confessor hold a 
conference concerning some accredited Casuists, and the new 
morality. The Dialogue is smart and sprightly, and easily- 
adapted to the Probability Corps on the present occasion. The 
Confessor says ; " Nous laissons les Peres a ceux qui traitent 
la Positive; nous ne citons dans nos ecrits que les nouveaux 
Casuistes'. — * Mais qui sont ces nouveaux Auteursr—- Ce sont 
des gens bien habiles et lien celebres (i. e. persons whose names 
were scarce ever heard of) C'est Villalobos, Con ink, Lamas, 
Achokier, Dealkoser, Bobadilla, &c. &c. &c — *f O mon Pere, 
Jui-disje tout erTraye, tous ces gens la etoient-ils Chretiens ?" 

Comment Chretiens ? me repondit il. Ne vous disois-je, 

quece sont les seals par qui nous gouvernons, &c. Cflui me fit 

pitie; (said Pascal,) mais je ne lui temoignai risn.' Lettrev 
Provinciales. L. 5. 



[ xxiv 3 

believe, no gentleman to whom it either has been, 
or may hereafter be, liberally or illiberally attri- 
buted, will so far forget his character, as to appro- 
priate my composition to himself. " The Town's 
enquiring yet 3" 3nd will enquire, as I think, for 
a long time. 

Factorum est copia nobis ; 

• -Hoc fit quod Roma vivimus : ilia domus, 

Ilia mihi sedes, illic mea.carpiiur setas. 

I beg leave to subjoin my opinion, that if the 
Poem on the Pursuits of Literature is once care- 
fully read without reference to the notes, the plan, 
the connection, and the manner of it will be per- 
ceived. I may add, that The First Dialogue was 
jjjrsf published in May 1794, the Second and Third 
in June 1796, and the Fourth in July 1797, 



AN INTRO- 



I 



I * 3 

AN 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER^) 



TO 



A FRIEND. 

On the general Subject of the following Poem on 
the Pursuits of Literature. 



Nel cerchio accolto, 
Mormord potentissime parole; 
Giro tre volte all 9 Oriente il volto, 
Tre volte ai regni ove dechina il Sole ; 
•' Onde tanto indugiar? forse attendete 

" VOCI ANCOR PIU POTENTI, O PIU SECRETE ?" 

Tasso G. L. Cant, 13* 

Dear Sir, 

Xjl S the publick have thought proper to pay some atten* 
tion to the following Poem on the Pursuits of Literature, 
the parts of which I have presented to their consideration, 
and for their use, at various intervals ; I have now col- 
lected the whole into one volume, after such a revision 

and 

(a) This Letter was first prefixed to the Fifth Edition of the 
I*. of L. collected for the first time into one volume and 
published in January 1798. 

A 



[ 2 j 

and correction as appeared to be necessary. It gives me 
pleasure to address this introduction to you. As a mark of 
my Friendship, I trust it is decisive. I always thought with 
Junius, that a printed paper receives very little consi- 
deration from the most respectable signature; but I 
would not be understood to insinuate, with that great and 
consummate writer, that my name would carry any weight 
with it. I must own however, that I smile at the various 
authors to whom my work has been ascribed. Doctors, Dra- 
matic Writers, Royal Treasurers, Divines, Orators, Law- 
yers, Greek Professors, School-masters, Bath guides, and 
Physicians, have all been named with confidence. Some- 
times the whole is written by one man, at others, ten or 
perhaps twenty are concerned in it. 

Criticisms and dissenting conjectures on the subject are 
alike the object of my ineffable contempt. More sagacity 
must be exerted than the Ardelios of the day are masters 
of, who are so kind as to think of me, who most certainly 
never think of them. It is however my resolution, that 
not one of these idle conjectures shall ever be extended to 
you. " Quid de me alii loquantur, ips'i VIDEANT; sed 
" loquentur tamen." {b) It is a voice; nothing more. Pru- 
dence indeed suggests a caution which I unwillingly adopt, 
and restrains the eagerness 1/ feel for the display of your 
virtues and of your talents. But those virtues must at 
present be left to the testimony of your own conscience, 
and your talents within those limits of exertion, in which 
an undiscerning spirit has too long suffered them to be 
confined. The bird of day however always looks to the sun. 

In regard to writing in general, the public expect 
neither thanks, nor gratitude from an author for their fa- 
vourable 
lb) Cic. Somn» Scip» Sect. 7. 



L 3 3 

favourable reception of his work. If it is unworthy of their 
notice, it is left to perish with the poetry of Knight, or the 
prose of Lauderdale. el I cannot indeed affect to believe, 
" that Nature has wholly disqualified me for all literary 
ts pursuits ;" (c) yet I would not trouble the publick, or 
myself, with this new edition of my Poem, if I did not 
think it agreeable to their wishes. I am satisfied with the 
attention which has been given to it ; and when I have 
commanded a silence within my own breast, I think a still 
small voice may whisper those gratulations, from which an 
honest man may best derive comfort from the past, and 
motives for future action. 

The wayward nature of the time, and the paramount 
necessity of securing to this kingdom her political 
and religious existence, and the rights of society, have 
stimulated me, as you well know, to offer this endeavour 
to preserve them, by a solemn, laborious, and disinterested, 
appeal to my countrymen. It is designed to conduct them 
through the labyrinths of literature; to convince them 
of the manner in which the understanding and affections 
are either bewildered, darkened, enervated, or degraded ; 
and to point out the fatal paths which would lead us all 
either to final destruction, or to complicated misery. 

I am not yet so old as to say, with the desponding 
bard, " Vitae est avidus, quisquis non vult, mundo secum 
pereunte, mori." Yet I see, with sorrow and fear, the 
political constitutions of Europe falling around us, or 
crumbling into dust, under the tyrannical Republic of 
France. She commenced with an imperious injunction 

A 2 to 

{*) The words of Mr. Gibbon. Posthumous Works, 4to. vol. I, 

page 34. 



C 4 3 

to the surrounding nations not to interpose in her domes- 
tic government, while at the very same moment, she 
herself was interfering and disturbing them all. She has 
indeed terminated in the change or overthrow of each of 
them, but of this kingdom. 

Frenchmen were always brutal, when unrestrained. 
With their own domestic misery and wickedness they 
never were satisfied. In these latter days they have been 
neighing after the constitution of their neighbours, in their 
lawless lustihood. They first deflower the purity of the 
struggling or half-consenting victims, and then with their 
ruffian daggers they stifle at once the voice, and the remem- 
brance of the pollution. Such are their abominations; 
such are their orgies of blood and lust. And when their 
cruelty is at last wearied out and exhausted, and demands 
a pau6e, they call it clemency. 

France had been long looking for that, which her 
philosophers had taught her to term, the parallelism 
of the sword; and she has found it. 1 That sword 
has indeed swept down not only every royal crest, and 
every head which raised itself above the plain of their 
equality. Such is their quaint and ferocious language : 
and now, when Englishmen are to be warned against 
the introduction of the horrid system, no appeal is to be 
made to the common feelings and passions of our nature, 
(this it seems, is declamation;) no scenes of terror, and 
cruelty, and desolation are to be laid before them, but dry 
reasoning and mathematical calculations of the quantum of 
misery, plunder, and blood necessary for the production, 
and establishment in England, of this blessed revolutionary 
government. 

Wei 



C 5 3 

We will not however be insulted and fooled out of 
our existence, or of our understanding. '* Our sentence 
" is for open war," till we can be safe. England is still pre- 
pared, and alert, and vigorous, and opulent, and generous, 
and bold, and undismayed: She has not cast away 
her confidence. Among the bands and associated energies 
of England I also, in my degree and very limited capa- 
city, will struggle for the principle of her life. I feel, in 
common with the wise and the reflecting, that the consti- 
tution of Great Britain, even with it's real or apparent 
defects, is worthy of continuance, and I hope of perpe* 
tuity. Our ancestors in 1688 once adopted the words of 
the aged Patriarch, " We have blessed it, yea, and it shall 
" be blessed." In this one response, I trust we shall all be 
orthodox; and with one heart and voice condemn all the 
heresies of Gallic policy, in the words of the Alexandrian 
JLiturgy of old j Twv wpsG-iwy nocrxXvoov ra, qpvcty&xra, (d) 

Government and Literature are now more than ever 
intimately connected ; and the history of the last thirty 
years proves it beyond a controversy. Still it is difficult to 
rouse the attention of men, and to persuade them of the fact ; 
but I have attempted it. I thought it just and right to set 
before them excellence opposed to excellence, (&) as well as 
error contrasted to error. In the present change of man- 
ners, opinions, government, and learning, you may re- 
member I gave it as my opinion, in which, after some 
reflection, you concurred, that a variation is now required 
A3 in 

{d) Liturgia Sancti Gregorii Alexandrina. Liturg. Oriental. 
Collect. Vol. j. p. 107. Edit. Paris. 1716. 

(e) AyotQv; ocyocQois avre^ETa^etv. Dion. Halicarn. ad Cne? 
Pompeium de Platone Epist. p. 757. Sect. 1, Vol. 6. Eel* 
Eeifke. i 777 . 



[ 6 3 

in the mode of conducting satirical writing. I mean, by 
calling in the reciprocal assistance of poetry and prose in the 
same work, for the great end; if it is designed for general 
perusal, and an extended application. I think this work 
is the first attempt of the kind, in the sense which I propose. 

(ApxiXoxa) QwvnfAa xxi otpgvoscrcrotv ccoi^viv 
Ylupytvcocs oriQapy I1POTOX sv evaTTiri, (f) 

I know not whether I am mistaken, but as it appears 
to me, the power of legitimate Satire thus extended, and 
strengthened with the rampart of prose, and fully under- 
stood, is the best, if not the only literary support left. I 
am sure it cannot be construed into an hired service. It 
has nothing in it of professional labour ; and as to inte- 
rested views of personal profit or promotion, how can they 
be consistent with it? It is as true in our time as in that 
of Dryden, (I will give you his own words,) that " the 
" common libellers of the day are as free from the impu- 
" tation of wit, as of morality," Satire has another tone 
and another character. All publick men, however dis- 
tinguished, must in their turns submit to it, if necessary to 
the welfare of the state. The altar and the throne, the 
minister and the statesman, may feel and own its influ- 
ence. I would express myself with diffidence of any 
Satirist; yet of the office itself, and of its higher functions, 
I would speak as becomes its dignity and the excellency of 
it's ancient character. Magnificabo apostolatum meum. 

In my opinion, the office of a Satirist is by no means 
pleasant or desirable, but in times like the present it is 
peculiarly necessary. It is indeed difficult to exercise the 
talent, without an appearance of severity in the character 
and dispostion. Even playfulness and humour are called 

by 

(/) Adapted from the Anthologta. p. 393, Ed. Erodasi. Fol. 



[ 7 j 

by other appellations. Learning is ostentation, censure is 
malignity, and reprehension is abuse. There remains a 
more formidable objection. On a first and partial view, 
it might deter any man from engaging in Satire; at least 
^iny man who feels himself (and who does not feel himself, 
if he examines his own heart?) unworthy a^nd wretched 
before the unerring judgment. It is said to be incom- 
patible, if not with the profession, yet certainly with the 
practice, of Christianity. I am sure, if that is true, the 
praise of wit, of learning, or of talents, is nothing worth. If 
private malignity is the motive, it is essentially contrary to 
the precepts and practice of that religion; it cannot be 
defended for a moment. But if Satire is an instrument, 
and a powerful instrument, to maintain and enforce pub- 
lic order, morality, religion, literature, and good man- 
ners, in those cases, in which the pulpit and the courts of 
law can seldom interfere, and rarely with effect; the 
community may authorize and approve it. The authorized 
instruments of lawful war are lawful. 

Satire never can have effect, without a personal 
application. It must come home to the bosoms, and often 
to the offences of particular men. It never has it's full force, 
if the author of it is known or stands forth ; for the un- 
worthiness of any man lessens the strength of his objec- 
tions. This is a full answer to those who require the name 
of a satirical poet. What I have written, is delivered to 
the public in this spirit. If I had any private end or 
malignity in any part of it, I would have burned the work 
with indignation before it should have appeared. I make 
no idle appeal to you, or to any man, for the truth of my 
assertion; it is enough for me to feel that I speak truth in 
ihe sincerity of my heart, If I am believed, I am believed. 
A 4 But 



[ 3 3 

But I may ask with confidence; Is there, in this work 
on the Pursuits of Literature, any sentence or any senti- 
ment, by which the mind may be depraved, degraded, or 
corrupted ? Is there a principle of classical criticism in 
any part of it, which is not just and defensible by the 
greatest masters of ancient and legitimate composition ? 
Is there any passage. which panders to the vitiated taste, 
or to the polluted affections and passions of bad men ? 
On the contrary ; Are not the heart and understanding 
fortified unto virtue, and exalted into independence? Is 
there any idle, depreciating declamation against the real 
and solid advantages of birth, fortune, learning, wit, ta- 
lents, and high station? Is there any doctrine, which a 
teacher of morality, I mean Christian morality, might re- 
fuse to sanction? A moralist and a divine have not the 
same office with the satirist; personality is foreign to 
them. But it is not sufficiently attended to, or believed, 
that when the understanding is enervated, when it once 
loses, what one of the Fathers (g) calls emphatically, the 
tw (ppowiGEcos Gvvvsv kooi 7rs7rux.va)[/,svQv , when that solid, tena- 
cious power of the mind is dissolved, it is then open to 
all manner of deception, and to the impressions of sophistry 
in literature, government, philosophy, and religion. On 
this account, many works and many actions must be con- 
sidered, which are wholly unworthy of reprehension or of 
notice in any other point of view. 

Ignorant men will cry out, it is a vexatious suit, when it 
is only a just prosecution at the tribunal of public opinion. 
They who would consider my reprehensions of Authors 

and 

[g) Basil. Archiepisc, Caesarea?, Op. vol, 2. p.698. Ed.Par.1618, 



[ 9 3 

and of the tendency of their writings, as libels, or as 
libellous matter, are as ignorant of common law, as they 
are forgetful of common sense, or of common integrity and 
candour* With such men, every piece of criticism is a 
species of libel. If they are inclined to indict any part of 
my work as libellous, it will be incumbent on them to 
contradict the great sage of the law [h), who declares, that 
" In a criminal prosecution, the tendency which all 
11 libels have to create animosities and disturb the public 
" peace, is the whole which the law considers." I am 
content to be at issue with them on this point. If any 
part of my work is " blasphemous, immoral, treasonable, 
schismctical, seditious, or scandalous," let it be produced 
publicly, and publicly punished. But I maintain that, 
under these restrictions, I have an undoubted right to lay 
my sentiments before the world, on public books, in any 
manner I think proper. If I am denied this right, there is 
an end to the freedom of the press, and of the rational and 
guarded liberty of England. If the matter of my book is 
criminal, let it be shewn : I appeal to the Courts and to 
the Sages of the Law. 

I will not, however, be intimidated by the war-whoop of 
Jacobins, and democratic writers, nor moved by the feeble 
shrieks of witlings and poetasters. While I have power, 
I will plead in behalf of learning, and in the cause of my 
country. In this work, I have not violated the precepts of 
Christianity, nor the law of the land; and till I have done 
both or either, it is not in the power of any man to de- 
grade my character and reputation with my country. If I 
have drawn any supposed characters, without a name or de- 
signation, I have done no more than Theophrastus or La- 

Bruyere. 

(h) Blackstone Comment. B.4. Ch. 11. 



L «• 3 

Eruyere. I shall not condescend to a discussion of such a 

subject. 

Many passages, and perhaps trifling or sportive allu- 
sions in ihis work, to persons and events, are best defended 
fey the general apology of Horace, " Ego si risi quod in. 
" eptus Pastillos Rufillus olet, lividus et mordax videar?" 
I shall offer no other apology. I would not descend to 
iuch minutiae, if they were not connected with my general 
design. Yet Sporus and Lord Fanny must be noticed, as 
well as Bufo and Atticus ; though perhaps such passages 
and allusions as these meet with the least indul^encet 
The works of Pope abound in them. To contemporaries 
they are pleasing and interesting ; and to posterity they are 
often curious. But though I stoop to such trifles rather 
unwillingly, yet I feel they are often necessary to the full 
effect and completion of Satire. A Gentleman Usher is 
not the principal figure in the etiquette of a Court, but he 
must stand in his place. 

As to the charge of any supposed arrogance or pre- 
sumption; a writer, especially a poet, will be sometimes 
warmed with the dignity and importance of his subject, 
and may express himself in terms rather strong. The 
<s sume superbiam" of a poet is seldom severely examined : 
it is an extravaganza at most, and understood as such. 

Much has been observed as to the defect of plan in my 
Poem. I will say but a few words ; for I wish not to vindi- 
cate, but to explain myself. The object of the work, is a 
View of Literature. The Poem itself is, " A Conversation 
vt on the various subjects of Literature, in a very extended 
M sense, as it affects public order, regulated government, 

" and 



[ « 3 

" and polished society." Nothing is introduced which 
tend not, directly or indirectly, to that main purpose. It 
does not appear in the form of an Epistle, a mock-epic, or a 
didactic poem; but as a conversation in which subjects 
are discussed as they arise naturally and easily ; and the notes 
illustrate and enforce the general and particular doctrines* 
There is as much method and connection, as is consistent 
with what I state to be my plan, or design, if you like that 
word better. There is unity in the design. Conversation 
has it's laws, but they are pleasant, not severe restraints. 
Consuls indeed do not now meet Consuls in Tusculum; 
and, if I am rightly informed, the symposiacs at Wimble- 
don and Holwood have not too much severity of method, 
or equality in the glasses. Perhaps " it would be a bely- 
" ing of the age, to put so much good sense together in 
" any one conversation, as to make it hold out steadily, 
" and with plain coherence, for an hour's time (i)." I 
never desired to exhaust any subject, but to leave matter 
for the reader's own suggestion. I may add, that it would 
be difficult to analyze one of the most finished Satires in 
our language, I mean Pope's Two Dialogues, or, as they 
are strangely called, the Epilogue to the Satires. 

I am represented as having threatened any person who 
makes enquiry after me or my name. It was not my 
intention to do so. I said, " it will be more than foolish 
" to be very inquisitive." I say so still; for when the 
avenue to any knowledge is strongly and effectually closed, 
who would labour after it fruitlessly? To waste our time 
to no manner of use, is not surely one of the discrimU 

nating 

(0 Shaftesbury's Moralists, Sect. I, 



[ I* 3 

sating marks of wisdom. I maintain it boldly; no man 
has a right to demand either my name or my situation. 
It has been observed on such occasions, that " some might 
Ci fight, but others would assassinate.*' For I believe indeed, 
that I have no real enemies, but the lovers of confu- 
sion and the troublers of states. I will acknowledge it, I 
come armed into their confines, and I come in the dark- 
ness of the night. But if I were required or called upon 
to choose my companion, you know, I am prepared with 
the answer of Diomede. 

Et /XEV So} IrctQov ys xeXeueis {/Suutov sXzvQoii, 

Uojs av ETrar OAT2HOS syco ©EIOIO hxhiywi 

Ov hzqi pcsv vrpotpqouv yc^o^ifi k&i Qv(ao; ctynvwg 

Ev ■zravTso-ji vovourt. (k) 

If I am forced indeed to descend into the lower regions of 
sorrow and confusion, among the perturbed spirits of anar- 
chy and democracy, I shall hope for the safe conduct of 
the SibylL She might produce the branch to the ferryman 
of France and Tartarus. I would wish her to exhibit this 
Poem, as the " Donum fatalis virgas, longo post tempore 



My book is open to all the accumulated severity of 
public criticism, and public reprehension : I shrink from 
neither of them. When I am wrong, (I have never been 
so intentionally) I will correct myself, and I have done so 
frequently. In a field so extensive, candour will allow, 
that my mistakes have not been very numerous. 

As to my poetry or versification, it was not written as a 
vehicle for the notes, but the notes were composed to 

accompany 
■ (£) U. 10. v. 24s. 



[ 13 ] 
accompany the text. I offer the poetry to those who are 
conversant with the strength, simplicity, and dignity of 
Dryden and Pope, and them alone. I submit my Poems, 
** The Pursuits of Literature, The Imperial Epistle, and The 
" Shade of Pope,'' in this spirit and with this confidence to 
the public. There are men, (and women too) who understand. 
But as to the lovers of exotic poetry, I refer them to the 
Botanic Garden of Dr. Darwin. My plants and flowers 
are produced and cherished by the natural invigorating 
influence of the common sun ; I have not raised them by- 
artificial heat. 

If the root of a tree is sound and vigorous, you 
strengthen the shoots by repressing their luxuriance. I ap- 
prove and would uphold our sacred and civil establishment-. 
I would therefore mark the aberrations and misconduct even 
of men of talents and virtue, who compose it; fori would 
shew, that I am strictly impartial. I can censure, with 
discrimination, even where I generally approve, and consi- 
der nothing but the interest of the state upon the whole. 
It is to misunderstand or to misrepresent me, when it is as- 
serted that I attack alike friends and foes. I attack no man 
in his individual capacity. I have nothing to do with the 
vanity or injudicious conduct of friends, but as they affect 
the community; and I can have no personal malignity 
against those of whom I am personally ignorant. But they 
shall neither disturb nor overthrow the state of England, 
civil or religious, if any observations of mine can avail. 
They may wish to know me; but they may depend upon it, 
I will never give a proof of my spirit at the expence of 
my understanding. 

I would 



[ U ] 



I would not have you, or any man, think, that I enter 
into a defence of my work, as if I thought it required one. 
No. I have vindicated the authority of our national go- 
vernment and constitution, in a day of turbulence and ter- 
ror; I have defended the purity and dignity of religion, 
and of our sacred establishment; I have pleaded the cause 
of sound literature and of true philosophy; I have recalled 
the public attention to poetry without conceit, and to cri- 
ticism without affectation ; I have endeavoured to secure to 
women their honour, social rank, and happiness, by an 
attempt to turn the thoughts and hearts of the inhabitants 
of this island from works of obscenity and indecency, from 
the morals and manners of atheists and democratic 
spoilers, to the wisdom of the just; and I have boldly 
invaded the strong holds of impiety and anarchy, plebeian 
or tribunitian. I have done all this; and I have offended 
many. I have brushed away the insects of literature, whe- 
ther fluttering or creeping; I have shaken the little stems 
of many a plant, and the flowerets have fallen. I have 
almost degraded myself by an attention to minute objects 
in the service of the public : and I am called upon to 
defend myself. No. My countenance is unaltered ; my 
perseverance is unbroken; the spirit and tenour of my 
speech are yet the same : my words are firm. Semel causam 
dixi, (vel iterum dicturus), quo semper agere omnia solitus 

SU771, ACCUSATORIO SPIRITU.^/) 

As to political matters we shall never want Observers. I 
hate deserters of their duty, (?;z) on any principle whatever* 
But I suppose some Statesmen think, that there is a laudable 
obliquity and a seasonable fear. For my own part I shall 

not 

(/) Liv. lib, 2, sect. 61. {m) H, of Commons Nov. 1797. 



L *5 J 

not, on this occasion, invade the retreat of St. Ann's Hill, 
or violate the purity of Drury Lane. If such Statesmen are 
resolved to free at once both the Senate and the Throne, the 
" Saevi Spiracula Ditis" are open to them; they may 
descend in safety, and disburthen the land. I do not believe 
that the possession of absolute power is in the reach of Mr„- 
Pitt, or of any man. But the continuance of suck a minister 
in office will be approved, as I think, while the security, 
and independence, and dignity of the crown, of the parlia* 
ment, and of the people ©f Great Britain, are maintained 
against the tyrannical pretensions of pirates, buccaneers, 
and plunderers. 

I would say to Mr. Pitt, as Cicero did to Torquatus* 
" Tibi nullum periculum esse perspicio, quod quidem 
" sejunctum sit ab omnium interitu." (n) That minister has 
not looked submissively, at any period of his long admini- 
stration, for personal protection in any quarter. There 
is a hardihood about the man, which I love. On the 
broad general question of the time, the public esteem 
has been commensurate with the royal approbation. In 
this, the policy of the closet, of the senate, and of the 
people seems to have been one. I am sure, I hope, that 
wherever Mr. Pitt, or any minister, proceeds, he will al- 
ways find a board of controll ; nor would I by any means 
disapprove the advice of an honest • Mandarin. But the 
stairs of the palace have now but one flight ; the gate is in 
front, and the ascent direct. The noble Marquis, who 
is now no more in office, may brood safely over beads 
and relics. There is some propriety in this amusement. 
It is pleasing to preserve the memorial of departed dignity. 

In 

(*) Clc. Ep, ad Faro. Lib, 6« Ep. i - 



C !« ] 

In ray opinion, the Moor's head might have adorned our 
coin with the royal Gallic lillies, though the Sovereignty 
of France and of Corsica is passed. 

I can stand aloof from the scene itself, but I am no 
stranger to the moving principle. I was not formed to wait 
long in the anti-chamber of a Duke of Lerma, or a Don 
Calderone. A little experience is sufficient for the ob- 
serving. It is either my advantage, or my misfortune, not 
to have adopted any profession : I never could decide that 
point. But, as you well know, I framed an early and an 
undaunted resolution, (perhaps not wholly justifiable, but 
certainly not degrading to the character) that I never would 
do perfonal suit and service, for convenience or emolu- 
ment, to any man however high, in a subordinate station, 
I framed that resolution ; I adhered to it : and privacy is my 
lot. Be it so : it is the soil in which learning and reflec- 
tion strike deepest. In these days, it is my desire that 
obscurity should gather round me. Now and then indeed the 
thoughts of times, which are no more, will bring with them 
a casual, momentary, doubtful glimpse of what might have 
been ; and often, with the poet of Valclusa by the fountain 
of Sorga, I have regretted some periods of inactivity, not. 
of sloth, which have passed, 

Senza levarmi a volo, avend'io I'ale, 
Per dar forse di me non bassi esempi (0). 

But if the laurel, which I have now planted, should thicken 

round the temple of my retirement, the pillars will support 

it : the materials are solid, and the ground is firm. 

I have 

(0) Petrarch, P. a. Son, 86. 



t V 3 

t We indeed a few memoirs by me, written in other 
days and with other hopes ; and if I could polish the style, 
and reduce them a little into form, I am convinced they 
would not be uninteresting. " Le Roi et ses Ministres 
" peutetre se fairoient lire ces Memoires, qui assurement ne 
" sont pas ceUx d'un ignorant." But let this pass for the 
present. I am for practicable politics: I would not be. 
driven into measures from which there is no retreat. I 
smile when I am told of love and hate in politicians and 
ministers. These are passions which they never felt ; for 
circumstances alone unite and separate them. I should 
wish to act with those statesmen who, as far as is consistent 
i with the dignity and safety of the country, by a timely 
concession and a rational departure from too rigid prin- 
ciples, would prevent those calamities which result from 
authority without power, and expence without supplies* 
(But my hour for treating these subjects, in the manner I 
propose, is not yet come : I must turn to other thoughts 
for a season i 

When Philosophy saw the Muses standing by Boethius 
in his affliction, she spoke in terms of some surprise and 
indignation (p). In our time this indignation would have 
been retorted by the sisters of the song. Philosophy has 
appeared, not to console, but to deject. When I have 
read and thought deeply on the accumulated horrors, and on 
all the gradations of wickedness and misery, through which 

B t the 

(/) Boeth. de Consolat. Philos. L. i« Pros. i. The words 
are particular. " H^ sunt quae infructuosis affettuum sftnis 
.*' uberem fruttibus rationis segetem necant, hominumque mentes 
" assuefaciunt morbo, non liherant"—" Medicine potius 
l[ TSMPUS EST, QUAM qjJEfcEL^/' lb, FrOS. 3, 



C «8 | 

the modern systematic philosophy of Europe has con- 
ducted her illuminated votaries to the confines of political 
death and mental darkness, my mind for a space feels a 
convulsion, and suffers the nature of an insurrection. 

I look around me. I look to human actions, and to 
human principles. I consider again and again, what is the 
nature and effecl: of learning and of instruction ; what is the 
doctrine of evidence, and the foundation of truth. I ask 
myself, are all these changed ? Have the moral and the na- 
tural laws of God to his creatures another basis? Has the 
lapse of fifty years made an alteration in Him, who is de- 
clared to be THE same to-day, yesterday, and for ever? 
Can the violence, the presumption, the audacity, the arro- 
gance, the tyranny of man, drunk with self idolatry and 
temporary success, change the nature and essence of God 
and of his works, by calling good evil and evil good? I am 
told, that human reason is nearly advanced to full perfec- 
tion ; I am assured, that she is arrived at the haven, where 
she would be. I again look around me. I ask, where is 
that haven ? where is that steady gale which has conducted 
her? I listen; but it is to the tempest: I cast niy view 
abroad ; but the ocean is every where perturbed. I pause 
again. Perhaps, it is " the wind and storm fulfilling HIS 
** word& 

I resume the reflections of suffering humanity amid the 
wreck of intellect. This was not the ancient character of 
philosophy. The lovers of wisdom, in the best ages of 
Athens and of Rome, always discoursed with reverence and 
submission to the Author and Governor of the world. 
They considered of whom they spoke. If they turned to 
the origin of evil, or to any dark and unfathomable ques» 

tion, 



C 19 ] 

lion, they first called upon man to consider the limits of 
his understanding. They warned him, with most peculiar 
emphasis, to beware of those scXvroi uvopiaci, those difficulties 
©f hard solution, which are but increased by defences of 
arguments ill constructed. They implored him affection* 
ately, to avoid all that tends to overthrow, to trouble, or dis- 
turb those principles, which conduct to peace and to right 
action. Their advice was to strengthen the intellect, and to 
compose the passions, not by braving and insulting the all- 
powerful, all-wise, and all-merciful Creator, but by an 
humble, patient enquiry into his works, and by submission 
to his dispensations. They seemed to be well aware, that 
to him who understood all the bearings and relations of the 
word, Resignation to the will of God was the whole of piety; 
If upon sages like these the light of revelation should appear, 
as the regent of their philosophical day, nothing can be con- 
ceived more august, nothing more ennobling, nothing more 
dignified. Poetry and philosophy may then speak a Ian-* 
guage worthy of themselves: 

Altius his nihil est: haec sunt fastigia mundi! 
Publica NATURE DOMUS his contents tenetur 
Pinibus. (q) 

When we have read such writers, it is hardly possible not 
to turn from modern sceptics and sciolists with something 
more than neglect. If to their philosophy they add witti- 
cism and ribaldry, they are nauseous. If to their ribaldry 
they join folly and gross ignorance, they should be driven 
from our fellowship with contempt. The continued labours 
©f the arch Theomachist of the age, the records of that per- 

B 2 petual 

(q) Manil, Astron. L. i. 



C 2 © ) 

■ petual conflict which he maintained, during the cdufse of 
fifty years of a long and impious life, against the spiritual 
" kingdoms of God and of his Christ," and the memorials 
of his desolating days, will all be entombed in the French 
Pantheon with the mouldering remnant of his bones (r). 
" Dust to dust: ashes to ashes." He sowed unto the flesh, 
and of the flesh he and his disciples have reaped death and 
corruption* 

All the minor powers of infidelity, anarchy, sedition, 
rebellion, and democracy, may yet be dispersed in 
England; from their leaders Voltaire, D'Alembert, and 
Condorcet, to the vulgar illiterate blasphemy of Thomas 
Paine, and the contemptible nonsense of William Godwin. 
I feel for mankind when they are insulted by such writers. 
I make common cause with my fellow creatures, and call 
upon them to rally round the constitution of our human 
iiature, and to support it's dignity. 

From writers of this character, my thoughts are directed 
fo the professors of that superstitious corruption of Chris- 
tianity, which originally gave occasion to those attempts, 
to which it has pleased Providence to permit a temporary 
success, to scourge the nations of Europe. I am sure the 

plain 

(r) To the writings of Voltaire the strong words of Eusebius 
are applicable : " Avrou ui TOT ©EOMAXOY (puvai, sirt 
** jtaxixs iu%vt (Asyz\av%(i[jisv3 9 xou ?as 7rpos rs T^urm rois 
V ccyysXoig 7rapcc$oQcicras twv eQvuv opoQscnas ^ioop7tOi>aa.i koci crvyy^ziv 

" aTTStXaVTOf, TTpOVOfAEUGEW TE T'/JV 0W8/ASVW, KM 7ToZv TO TCrtV 

" a.v9p&)7T0iJV ysvo; Siexcteigem xou /xeracTTjcrav rris Trporspov eut<z%io,s 

*« *7rai/0a&a§o^gi/B," Euseb. Demonstrate Ef^S^D' 4" Secl.c£ 



C *» 3 

plain simplicity of the Protestant religion of England could 
never have suggested so daring, so extensive a project. I 
have therefore spoken at large of the Roman Catholic 
religion, and it's professors, and of the emigrants and 
French priests. 

From some observations which I have heard and seen on this 
^art of my work, you may remember I was tempted to think, 
that I had advanced something new on this subject. I am sure 
the principles are as old and as moderate as those of the Re* 
formation ; and I know that every page of our history con- 
firms their truth. Have we forgotten the history of that Re- 
formation? Is " the Preservative against Popery" buried in 
oblivion and unmerited neglect ? Do we remember Mede, and 
Chillingworth, and Hooker, and Barrow, and Tillotson, and 
Hoadly, and Sherlock ? Can we pass by the phalanx of States^ 
jnen, and Bishops, and Lawyers, who stood forth in 1688? 
What I have advanced is in substance very old ; in manner 
it may perhaps be new. All I have advised, is on the 
side of caution. I only declared and pronounced so- 
lemnly in the face of my country, that a College of 
Romish Priests of a religion hostile in principle and in 
action too, whenever it has the power, against the established 
church of this kingdom, should not be set upon a kill, and 
authorised and maintained by the ministers of the crown, 
and by the public money of the land. They have been dis- 
persed, since that warning was given. I only said, let sup- 
port be administered to them privately, and in detached 
situations. I have pity for them, and relief too, according tq 
my ability. 

But, " though I give all my goods (said an Apostle J to, 
! f feed the poor and the distressed, and have not Charity, it 

B § " profiteth 



[ *2 ] 

** profiteth me nothing.' ' What does he mean ? He surely 
means something. Alms alone, it seems, however liberal, 
however extended, neither are, nor can be, the whole or the 
essence of Christian charity. They are indeed a material part 
of it, and one of the best external proofs of it's existences 
Chanty is in reality a principle of general safety, of kindness, 
©f active benevolence, of discernment, of prudence, of mode- 
ration, and of guarded virtue. It originated from Him, who 
commanded his disciples to join the innocence of the dove 
with the wisdom of the serpent. We may depend upon it ; 
the system of Christianity is not inconsistent with itself. 
Surely this is not to teach, or to recommend, persecution or 
intolerance.' My language and arguments are designed only 
to shew, that the spirit of the system of Popery yet remains 
unaltered in it's great and leading principles. If it perishes^ 
it will perish altogether. I love toleration in the constitu- 
tional sense of the word, as much as the most designing 
patriot of the day: but indifference to the public form of 
religion is the first step to it's neglect, and to its consequent 
abolition. 

I cannot think it a mark of persecution or intolerance, 
when I deprecate the revival of the Romish superstition in 
England (j), There is an enthusiasm, an opyKo-^o;, in the 

professors 

(x) " From obvious causes^ (indeed) the cruelty, the tyranny, the 
• 8 impiety of the Church OF Rome have almost faded from our 
il memory ; but we must bring them back to our recollection, ifive would 
'* underft and "the judgments of god which ARF. ABKOAD II* 
" the earth." She is now persecuted in her turn. As English- 
*' men, we forget her injuries; as Christians, we pity and give 
4* alms to her exiled adherents, regardless of the malicious endea- 

*A your& 



C 23 3 

professors of it which, I know, never forsakes them. It is 
active, where it's influence can hardly be supposed. It is 
said to pervade even the squabbles of a society set apart for 
the preservation of our national antiquity. With a cat-like 
watch, it peers and pries over every paper on ecclesiastical 
relics, and garbles the slightest casual effusions of protestant 
zeal, before it is presented to the world. If it cannot be 
openly recommended, it will effectually guard against the 
least reproach or insinuation of it's subtlety. Romish Baro- 
nets will be busy, and Romish Priests will meddle. Per- 
haps the Secretary of that Society knows, whether these hints 
are true and justifiable. It surely will be understood, that 
I am only speaking of the Spirit and tendency of the system 

B 4 itself. 

i 
" vours of our adversaries to represent the Church of England, 

*• as itself interested in her preservation. But let us only advert 

u to the principles, religious and civil, upon which we are sepa. 

" rated from that idolatrous and intolerant power ; and it will be 

" evident that, as a national Church, we have neither part nor lot 

" in this matter. Our causes are distinct, and must ever 

■•' remain so: and c we have NOW more abundant -reason than ever to 

" rejoice in our Reformed Religion, Our fathers obeyed the warning 

* 6 voice, and left her corrupt communion when she had risen to 

•' the zenith of her glory; and we have hitherto escaped the 

" plagues by which she is now tormented. And it may be 

*' added, that as England was formerly (and I trust is still) the 

** bulwark of the Protestant faith, so must she now be the bul* 

" wark of Christianity itself." See the Bifhop of (a) Lincoln's 

sermon before the King and Parliament at St. Paul's on 

the public thanksgiving on the 19th Dec. 1797. (Published 

m Feb. 1798.) It is the composition of a man of learning and 

ability, written with great judgment, eloquence, and discern* 

ment of the signs of the times, 

(ft J The Rt, Kev. George Pretyman 4 D. P, 



C H ] 

itself. I would carry charity with me in my heaft and m 
my hand, but I know that charity is, and must be, consist- 
ent with a love to my country, and to her rights civil and 
religious. If I am wrong, I fear, I must continue so ; I have 
yet seen no argument to sfiake my conviction. 

I would say a few words on another part of my work. I 
have been under the necessity, at least as I thought, of ap- 
pealing for illustration to writers of all ages and in various 
languages. There is an appearance of ostentation in it, to 
which I must submit. I certainly am of opinion with Ca- 
saubon, that it cannot be supposed, " facere aliquid ad veram 
pietatem seu doctrinam, Grasca potius quam alia lingua 
ioqui." (t) Certainly not. But to enforce and illustrate any 
position, the language of poets, and the dignity and spirit 
of ancient eloquence and history in the original words, are 
of no mean assistance. The nature and full force of this work 
"could not have been sustained without the notes, in which 
the most important subjects, sacred, moral, and political, 
are occasionally discussed. But I have generally given, 
in English, the substance of the allusions, contained in the 
learned languages which are brought forward, 

I would not have any one think, that an appeal to the 
higher poets of modern Italy is either trifling or disgraceful. 
No man ever felt the power of poetry, if he refused his 
homage to Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, andTasso; I mean., 
if their language was familiar to him. 

In their primal poet there is an originality and a hardihood 
of antiquity. The soul of Dante was dark and sullen: it was, 
proud, and full of his wrongs. Frons l<eta parum et dejectp 

lumina, 

(/) Is, £asaub. Exereitat. 16, ad Annates Eccl§siast, ^atonii, 



t *5 ] 

liimina vultu. He passed through imaginary realms without 
the sun, to the confines of light and hope. The day shone 
full upon him, and the beams were from on high. His 
draught of men and their passions is eternal. His language 
was like himself, deep and full of matter ; it's strength an4 
Jaarmony may be best expressed by his Tuscan brother; 

Aspro cencento, orribile armonia 
X)'alte querele, d'ululi, e di strida, 
Istranamente concordar s'udia.(a) 

As to Petrarch; we are led by every milder feeling to &c 
retreat of Valclusa. The strain of the poet is yet softer 
than the breeze, or the murmur of his fountain, (v) Yet was 
he not without energy : his subject was sometimes high and 
holy. He was familiar with death, and his breathings were 
after immortality. He too could describe the. difruption i$ 
the mortal veil, and the departure of the soul, 

Svegliata fra gli spirti eletti, 
Qve nel suo Fattor V alma s 'interna! 

I will not pursue this theme ; and of Ariosto and Tasso it- 
would be idle to speak. But you will permit me to observe, 
that the three greatest masters of heroic verse, in unlaboured 
ease and flowing dignity, are to my apprehension anJ. 
judgment, Homer, Ariosto, and the glory of Spain, 

Alonza 



(«) Ariosto. O. F. c. 14.. 

{v) t D>(T7[£p alio rcov euuftstrroirw Kei[aouvcuv acvpx, ns fi^cia, s% 
ftvrns (pep£T£j. Such is the harmonious prose which distinguishes 
the critical writings of the great Halicarnassian. Dion, Hali- 
f arn. Epist ad, Cn. Ppmpeium de fl^tem* Sect. %» 



I *$ ] 

Alonzo d'Ercillaf*). I have without intention indeed, but 
•with the privilege of a letter, descanted a little on a favourite 
incidental topic. For when I hear the language of 
Italy, under these mighty masters, called frivolous and 
light, I cannot pass it without a moment's vindication. In 
rcy opinion they strengthen and harmonize both the intellect 
and the ear. My references to them are however very 
few, 

I am told, I am forgiven for my Latin ; but for the Greek, 
not so easily. In this particular indeed, I am rather surprised 
that no man of wit has said of my notes, " They are Greek 
** invocations to call fools into a circle." (y) Certainly there 
will be Halos round the brightest luminaries ; and it must be 
confessed, that many of my notes have such a circular appear- 
ance. If some galled theologian should be disposed to 
banter, and to question the validity of my Greek ordina- 
tion, he would perhaps shrewdly remind me of the Council 
of Florence in 1439, when the Greek and Latin churches 
proposed, as a principle of union, that the Greeks should 
alter their manuscripts from the Latin, He might tell me 
©f that celebrated " Fcedus cum Grascis," so well known 
among the sacred manuscript critics. And if I were to 
adduce from the great Erasmus, my " Capita argumentorum 
*' contra morosos quosdam et indoctos" (z); I should perhaps 
be reminded by Dr. Parr, that I have not the erudition of 
Erasmus, nor the gentle manners of the serene Sepulveda. 
Mr. Knight would remand me to the Greek alphabet (to 
any one, I hope, but his own), and his modesty would 

attempt 

(x) The Author of the Araucana. 

(y) Shakspeare's As you Like it* act. 2. 

t£> Nov. Test, by Erasmus in J59|- 5th E4it* 



t *7 J 

attempt some jucundity from the Lusus Priapi. I will 
endure them all ; for I have patience and pity too. 

I know you were surprised, when you found me beset 
with poetasters, and rhetoricians, and commentators, and old 
seventh-form boys, that I was so patient. In truth I thought 
there might be some remedy. Yet I will own, that when 
I see so many heads around me deprived of the substance of 
sense, I am perpetually calling for the ampolla of Astolpho, 
that sacred vessel which he brought from the upper regions, 
" Che tempo e ormai, ch' ai capi voti e macri 
'* Di senno, si soccorri con /' ampolla, (a) 

But I should have too much on my hands, and I recall 
my wish. In the political, as well as in the mere literary 
world, there is more to do in that way than I can attempt. 

A few drops from this ampolla might now and then, otk 
particular occasions, fall on the Minister himself, who now 
in his taxes appears as the political Hecate [b) t or Diana, in 

their 

(a) Ariosto. O. F. Cant. 38. 

(b) Hecate is termed in the Argonautics of Orpheus, 

XpjdcroxapTjvoj' iSeiv, oXoov rspx; an £«t}to^, 

T«prapo7rai$ Ejcaryj ! (v. 974.) Edit. Eschenback. p. 66. 

For the Diana r^op^oq, look at the gems of Fulvius Ursinus.— « 
It is odd, that Lycophron, in all the darkness of his prophetic 
song, chanting forth the powers, &; Apw s^^to, couples 
together Bellona and Minerva, " Koct &' Evww, koci Tpiywvnros 
*' ©sa." Cassand. v. 519. — What is the allegory? It seems as 
if war and wisdom might be joined together ; but the sooner the 
$nion can be dissolved, the better. (1798.) 



tfieir triple forms. Some of it also might be spared for Ear! 
Fitzwilliam with good effect ; but I should be unwilling to 
waste the precious liquor on the noble head of his Grace 
of Bedford. Some crests are indeed vulnerable; but the 
natural constitution is sometimes so radically impaired, that 
when the head is once opened, it is in vain to think of 
closing it. Mr. Home Tooke, for instance, is out of the 
reach of art. I would only set up the bidental at the book- 
seller's door at Wimbledon. It will at least serve as a land- 
mark for the French, on .their first invasion. As to the. 
•• mendici, mimi, balatrones," what can be done? The most 
infamous are the most contented. But there are minor 
members of the great democratic body,, and all have not the 
Same office. Yet there is a marvellous use (and they un- 
derstand it better than we do) in that which every joint 
supplieth. I should leave Mr. Tierney (c), with some little 
hope, to the discipline of Cocker and Oldfield (d). He 
may perhaps improve in calculation ; but I think it will be 
some time before his anti-professional prattle will impose oil 
another boy- committee on a contested election. The drops 
of the ampolla would never penetrate the thick rotundity o£ 
Mr. Nicholls (e) ; but they might insinuate themselves 
through the zigzag crevices of Sir John Sinclair's head. 
If we pass to subjects of lighter moment, even the Bavian) 
drops from Mr. Gifford have fallen off, like oil, from the 
plumage of the Florence and Cruscan geese. At home also, 
I am sorry that his success is imperfect, I am told, that 
Mr, Greathead and Mr. Merry yet write and talk ; and 

Mr. 

,{c) M. P. for the Borough. (d) An obscure writer on thQ 
Boroughs, " The sad historian of that tainted plain*'' 
(0 M. P. for Tregony. 






t 29 3 

Mr. Jerningham (poor man ! J still continues sillier than his 
sheep* 

But a truce to this badinage. Like the Warrior of Ithaca, 
2 would appear but for a season, and for a peculiar purpose, 
in such a garb. It is necessary now to assume those higher 
functions to which I am called, to claim for myself, and to 
vindicate the undoubted right (f) and hereditary dignity of 
the Satiric muse. 

AATO A' Eni MErAN OX AON ! z%m Ciov 91& fa/m-jut 
Icov EiATCteiWt. Tac%za$ £' syyjeuav* -'Surras 
Jivm TTpQcrOs vrdbaiv. (g) 

I had once a thought, as you advised me, of analysing 
4he following poem. But to what effect, and for what use? 
To men, like you, it isneedless or presumptuous, and to 
others, it is superfluous. I am indeed confident, that when 
all the personal objects of my praise or censure shall have 
passed from the scene, this work will be found to contain 
principles of government, polity, religion, morality, edu- 
cation, criticism, poetry, and literature, worthy of being 
transmitted to another age. I have indeed already said 
much; but I think, I have something more to offer to my 
country, if the blessing of strength and health should 
graciously be extended and continued to me. I mean, if I 
see a proper occasion to present it, and if England should 
not be absorbed in the vortex and abhorred gulf of demo- 
cracy and tyranny. 

I Still perhaps I am incautious in my words ; for I can pro- 
mise little, However that may be, my principle is and ever 

has 
if) Swhw Mamv xrseiw* Pind. Fyth. 1. (g) Horn. Od.as, 



lias "been, that " no man liveth unto himself," for hi* 
own little pleasures, or mean gratifications, or low unworthy 
passions, the dirty family of selfishness, which by the law 
of Providence defeats it's own purposes. I speak not of 
a romantic, impracticable, general good, but of the speci- 
fic benefit which an individual may and can confer on his 
fellow-creatures, in his own limited sphere of action, by a 
continued exertion of the faculties or talents, with which 
he feels himself intrusted. 

The well-wishers to their country are, above all things, 
desirous of the steady light of Literature, and of the day- 
spring from on high. Yet whatever they or we may hope, 
the horizon may perhaps be now illuminated with it's 
departing beams. I will yet strive to be full of hope ; 
though in some passing moments of dejection, the strain of 
the Florentine poet, in all it's melancholy harmony, dwell* 
upon my ear; 

Pensa, che questo dl max non raggiorna! (k) 

But let us still contemplate the glory which was cast 
round other times. I will therefore conclude this letter, by 
complying with your request, in offering you a very few 
ideas on the chief Satirists of ancient and of modern fame, 
I may be singular perhaps; but if I except Lucilius, 
(who is known to us only by detached lines and short pas- 
sages,) in my opinion, the fulness of the Satirical glory nevgr 
shone but on six poets : 

Quos orbe sub amni 
Jam vix septena numerat Sapientia fama. 

The character of Lucilius, the inventor of Satire, was 
Inspected by Scipio and Laslius ; and they were his friends. 

Poetaster 
(h) Dante Parade 



t 31 3 

Poetasters, rhetoricians, and even men of high quality an£ 
of consular rank, were often the subjects of his censure. I 
know not what a modern French Directory might do with a 
man of his character ; but Luciiius enjoyed respect and 
impunity in the Roman Republic. Horace in the 
politest age, under the despotism of Augustus, insinuated 
himself into the graces of 4 the Emperor : yet he was pecu- 
liarly studious to mark the obnoxious, foolish, or wicked 
characters of his age. He was careful not to be misunder- 
stood. He noted the name, the profession, and the rank of 
those whom he devoted to undying ridicule, or consigned 
to the eternity of fame. Augustus and Maecenas well knew 
the value of such a poet. They looked to the stability o£ 
government and to the empire of good sense, and found them 
intimately connected with literature and poetry. In the 
time of Nero and Trajan, Juvenal and Persius exerted a 
severity without playfulness, and veiled themselves in 
obscurity, yet without being misunderstood. They applied 
directly and irresistibly to the inmost feelings of the heart, 
callous and depraved as it was. The writers were either 
spared or neglected ; but their works were admired and 
circulated. I know the person to whom I am now addressing 
myself too well, to enter into a criticism on Horace, Ju- 
venal, or Persius; Mr. Dryden indeed has done ifc 
already. 

An interval of ages passed, dark and barbarous. The-- 
power of Satire, in its full and legitimate strength, was 
never again felt till the reign of Louis the fourteenth o£ 
France. Then appeared a Poet, second to none of his 
predecessors. A philosopher without being wordy, the 
friend oi sense and of virtue, a gentleman in principle, 

independent 



[ w 3 

independent in spirit, and fearless of enemies, however 
jpowerful from their malignity or formidable from their rank,; 
This extraordinary man was Boileau. If I am not deceived* 
there is something in all his compositions so finished, so 
removed from conceit and forced thought? there is- such an 
ardent zeal for propriety in sentiment and in expression; 
such a sense of the dignity of tfie human character, when 
undebased; such a hatred of hypocrisy; such a love of 
purity; such an abhorrence of all profaneness and inde* 
cency* and even of indelicacy ; that I am not able to name 
a man whose works, as a poet and a critic, may be read 
and studied with equal advantage. Even his compliments* 
though rather lofty, to Louis the fourteenth are all con- 
ceived in the language of a gentleman and a man of genius, 
who feels that he is conferring honour, not receiving it. 
The majesty of the French monarch, in that cultivated age, 
■was surely as worthy of homage as the deity of -the Roman 
Augustus. 

To read the works of Boileau with full advan? 
tage, some accuracy of knowledge, and some insight 
into the delicacy of the ancient French language are; 
required. I call their language ancient, which existed 
before the revolution, for I scarce understand the modern 
democratic jargon. " Grave virus munditias peputit" \t 
is also necessary to have a perception of the peculiar cas.t 
of the French poetry, and of the construction of the verse. 
An allowance must be made for the language itself, which 
is not poetical as contradistinguished to prose, but forcible* 
terse, and well adapted to the condensation of satirical 
expression. As a writer, I think him original. What he 
kas borrowed, he almost seems to have restored to it's 

* prppef 



t 33 1 

JftOper place. He alternately assumes the characters of 
the three great Romans; and maintains an honourable 
contest for the mastery. Equal to either of them taken 
singly ; and in the merit of composition, sometimes their 
superior. He is their true and lawful brother ; there is a 
fraternal league between them, which no friend to good 
literature, good poetry, and good manners, will ever suffer 
io be broken. 

Nearly at the same period, after some momentary gleams 
and strong flashes in the horizon, Satire arose in England* 
When I name Dry den, I comprehend every varied 
excellence of our poetry. In harmony, strength, modu- 
lation, rythm, energy, he first displayed the full power of 
the English language. My business with him at present, is 
only as a Satirist ; I will be brief, for I speak to the intelli- 
gent. He was the first poet who brought to perfection* 
what I would term, " The Allegory of Satire." Fables 
indeed, and apologues, and romances, have been the 
most ancient modes of reproof and censure. It was the 
peculiar happiness of Dryden to give an eternal sense 
and interest to subjects which are transitory. He placed 
his scene on the ground of actual history. The reader of 
every age has an interest in the delineation of characters 
and names* which have been familiar to him ffOm his ear- 
liest years. He is already prepared, and feels a predilection 
for the subject. This accommodation of ancient charac- 
ters to existing persons has a peculiar force in the age to) 
which it is addressed; and posterity reads with delight a 
poem founded on pristine story, and illustrated by the 
records of modern times* 

©• Dryden's 



t 34 } 

Drydcn's power of Satire has been generally acknow* 
ledged in his Mac-Flecknoe ; but his master-piece k that 
wonderful and unequalled performance, Absalom and 
Achitophel. He presents to us an heroic subject in heroic 
numbers, a well-constructed allegory, and a forcible appeal 
to our best feelings and passions, He paints the horrors of 
anarchy, sedition, rebellion, and democracy, with the 
pencil of Dante, or of Michael Angelo; and he gives the 
speeches of his heroes with the strength, propriety, and 
correctness of Virgil. It is Satire in it's highest form; but 
it is satire addressed to the few. It is not adapted to the 
general effect of this species of poetry. In my opinion, 
Dryden has not the style and manner of Horace, or Juvenal, 
or Persius, or Boileau. Pope called him unhappy, 
from the looseness of the age in which he lived. He has 
enthusiasm, majesty, seriousness, severity, gravity, strength 
of conception, and boldness of imagery. But sprightliness, 
gaiety, an easy badinage, an occasional playfulness, so ne- 
cessary to the general effect of satirical poetry, were all 
wanting to him. Perhaps his genius was too sublime. He 
Could not, or he would not, descend to the minutiae which 
are often required, to the anecdotes, and the passing traits of 
the time. His satire had an original character. It was the 
strain of Archilochus sounding from the lyre of Alcaeus. 

The Sixth and last of this immortal Brotherhood, in 
the fulness of time, and in the maturity of poetical power, 
came Pope. All that was wanting to his illustrious pre- 
decessor found its consummation in the genius, knowledge, 
correct sense, and condensation of thought and expression, 
which distinguish this poet. The tenour of his life was 
peculiarly favourable to his office. He hadjirst cultivated 
i - ' all 



t 35 1 

all the iloWery grounds of poetry. He had excelled in 
description, in pastoral, in the pathetic, and in general 
criticism ; and he had given an English existence in perpe- 
tuity to the Father of all poetry. Thus honoured, and witli 
these pretensions, he left them all for that excellence, for which 
the maturity of his talents and his judgment so eminently 
designed him. Familiar with the great, intimate with the 
polite, graced by the attentions of the fair, admired by the 
learned, a favourite with the nation, independent in an 
acquired opulence, the honourable product of his genius 
and industry ; the companion of persons distinguished for 
birth, high fashion, rank, wit, or virtue, and resident in the 
center of all public information and intelligence; every 
avenue to knowledge and every mode of observation were 
open to his curious, prying, piercing, and unwearied intel- 
lect. His works are so generally read and studied, that I 
should not merely fatigue, but I should almost insult you 
by such a needless disquisition. 

As a disciple of these great masters* and full of that spirit 
which an unbroken and an honourable intimacy with their 
works has inspired, I now present myself a votary at their 
temple ; and in some measure clothed in the robes of their 
hereditary priesthood, I would also enter, and offer my obla- 
tion at the high altrtr of my country. But if* unworthy of this 
hallowed investment and interior ministry, the door of the 
sanctuary is closed upon me ; I shall retire without a mur- 
mur, and with devotion unimpaired worship in the vestibule,' 
You can best judge of my motives, who have known most 
intimately the nature and extent of my studies, solitary so long 
m their acquirement, and now public at last in their applica- 
tion and in their end. With a necessary indulgence for all 

C 2, my 



[ 3« 1 

my frailties, vices, errors, follies, and imperfections, and 
with the partiality of friendship, you, and such as you, may 
perhaps allow me to apply to myself, with some little varia- 
tion, the words of the most fervid poet of antiquity : 

Non tenues ignavo pollice chordas 
Pulso, sed Aurunci residens in margine tempi* 
Audax magnorum tumulis adcanto Magistruuk 

I am, &c, &c. 



TH4 



£ 37 ] 



THE 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE, 



DIALOGUE THE FIRST. 



Audaci quicunque afflate Cratino, 
Iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene-palles, 
j4spice et h<ec, si forte aliquid decoct ius audis j 
Indc vaporatji leetor mihi ferveat aurc. 

PERS. SAT. I, 



^.,\... 



[ 39 ] 




THE PREFACE 

TO THE FIRST DIALOGUE(o) 



OF THE 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



lHE importance of the subject of this Poem, and the 
necessity of such an appeal to the kingdom at this time, 
are the best reasons which I can offer for it's publication. 
But in regard to the various matters which are considered 
in the following composition, I recommend to my readers 
a passage from a collection of the most pleasing and 
informing treatises in natural philosophy which I ever read, 
or I believe ever were written? I mean the Chemical 
Assays by Dr. Watson, the present Bishop of LandafF. {b) 
The passage is this; " Sir Isaac Newton and Dr. Bentley 

C 4 " met 

(a) First printed in May 1794* 
(£) Vol. 4. p, 25, 



C 40 1 

" met accidentally in London^ and on Sir Isaac's inquiring 
" what philosophical Pursuits were carrying on at Cam- 
*' bridge, the Doctor replied, none ; for when you 
" go a hunting, Sir Isaac, you kill all the game; you have 
" left us nothing to pursue," *« Not so, said the 
*' philosopher, you may start a variety of game in every 
*' bush, if you will but take the trouble to beat for it." 
*' And so in truth it is,'* (observes Bishop Watson , " every 
" object in nature affords occasion for philosophical experi- 
" ment." I may add, that such a state of society and of 
literature, as the present, affords occasion for numerous 
experiments and observations, without any danger of 
mutual interference. 

In this Poem no imitation whatsoever is intended of 
any former writer, or of any former poem. It was 
written upon no private motive whatsoever; but simply and 
solely as the conduct oj the persons mentioned or alluded to, 
or the manner of their compositions, or the principles of 
their writings, tend to influence and affect the learning, the 
government, the religion, the public morality, the public 
happiness, and the public security oj this Nation. My 
intentions are just and justifiable to reasonable men, who 
will reflect on what has passed, and is passing before them. 
We must indeed be sensible, that it is now no longer a 
mere sport of the pen, a light skirmish, or a random 
shaft, the Apollineae helium puerile pharetrae, which are 
alone demanded; but our weapons must be instruments 
of war, able to break down the strong holds of anarchy, 
impiety, and rebellion, and mighty to vindicate the 
powers of legitimate authority. In every region of Europe 
there should have been a common cause. But in no 
kingdom, except Great Britain, has that cause been 
3 maintained 



■ I 4» 3 

maintained in full integrity. While I am writing, (c) we 
are convulsed to our center; and yet in the midst of fear, 
we are impudently and wickedly told, there is no cause of 
alarm. 

Talia dum celebro, subitam civilis Erinnys 
Tarpeio de monte facem, Phlegraeaque movit 
Prasiia ; sacrilegis lucent Capitolia tsedis, 
Et Senonum furias Latize sumpsere cohortes.(^) 

We may (for we can) all of us contribute to the 
assistance, the comfort, and the good of others, and to the; 
stability of social happiness. The sword, the voice, and 
the pen must be resolutely and decisively called into action, 
for defence, for counsel, for admonition, and for censure. 
Satirical writings must submit to the imputation of 
ill-nature, though I see no necessary connection between 
them. In my opinion, Satire has nothing to do with 
good -nature, or with ill-nature. It's office respects the 
public good alone, and the interests of the community. 
It is frequently designed to supply the laws, in those cases 
which are beyond their jurisdiction. From such courts it 
appeals to perhaps a still higher tribunal, that of public 
opinion, character, and reputation. 

Such are my ideas ; yet I am sure I have nothing of the 
wild American in my composition ; I never wished to 
destroy any man, either to inherit his wit or plunder him 
of his understanding. But I will bow to no Cyrill of 
Alexandria, to no Executive Director of a modern Repub- 
lic, to no lordly president of factious councils, of 

democratic 
(c) 1796. 

(^) Statius Sylv. Lib. $. Carm. $.— Senates were the Gauls 
qv French. 



C 4* 3 

democratic delegates, or of societies in open defiance of 
established authority in regulated empires. There is dark- 
ness mixed with fire, and volumes of smoke are rolling 
from, the mouth of the cavern. I love no atheist French 
Bishops, nor unfrocked grammarians in England. Home 
Tooke is still living, and Edmund Burke is no more. Sol 
cccubuit! I hope Mr. Pitt will assure us of the old 
progidy, ■* Nox nulla secutaestl'* 

We must now all assist in our various capacities, and 
feel and act as publick men. In times like these we may 
assume a virtue, a character, a courage, and a firmness, 
net originally our own. I protest I have no private 
animosity in my nature ; but I come forth (boldly enough, 
I will confess, but as I ought to do) in behalf of my 
country, her literature, her laws, her religion, and her 
government. Nor would I publish this satirical Poem, 
but from a full conviction of it's tendency to promote the. 
public welfare, in its degree and according to it's suhject s 
when it is (if it ever should be) studied and considered 
With impartiality. 



THE 



[ 45 ] 
THE 

PURSUITS OF LITERATURE, 

A SATIRICAL POEM. 
DIALOGUE THE FIRSTS) 



INGIMUS H.EC, AJ.TUM SATIRA SUMENTE C0THURNI7.M? 
NOS UTINAM VAJII \(h) 



THE AUTHOR AND OCTAVIUS, 

THE AUTHOR. 

1 who once deem'd my race of labour run, 
And camps, and courts, and crowds, and senates shun, 
Still to the publick raise no venal voice, 
In the full freedom of a Briton's choice, 
Through tracts aloft on daring pinions rove, 
Where'er by duty borne, or led by love f 



(a) First published in May 1794. 
(6) Juy. Sat. 6. 



Yer 



[ 44 3 

Yet net unconscious of this awful age, 
I mark what new conflicting Sophists rage, 
Sophists who laugh to scorn th* avenging rod, 
And hurl defiance to the throne of God ; 
Shake pestilence abroad with madd'ning sweep, 
And grant no pause— but everlasting sleep ! (c) 
Blood-guiltiness their crime; with hell they cope : 
No flesh, no spirit now must rest in hope, 
But under foliage dark, and cypress gloom, 
The (d) sculptur'd mock'ry marks and seals the tomb. 

New lights on all, but on the poet, rise ; 
Still can he smile, and with no murm'ring sighs 
Can own well-pleas'd, that now the meanest Bard, 
Bavius, (d) or Maro, finds the same regard. 20 

Not 

{e) This alludes to the French decree which in 1795 abo- 
lished, by law, a futurity of existence. Impiety and absurdity 
are the natural consequences of their principles. 

(d ) The French have also decreed, that in every church-yard 
trees shall be planted, and the figure of sleep erected pointing 
to the tombs ; and this sleep they decree to be eternal. N. B. 
This was the fact, when this First Part of the Pursuits of 
Literature was first published in May 1794.— It may be so again, 
or may be so at this moment, 1796. 



C 45 ] 

Not as Maecenas once with partial ray 
Illum'dthe rising glories of his day 5 
Whose orb the Mantuan plains alone would warm, 
Or beam propitious on the Sabine farm. 

OCTAVIUS. 

Why should yon write ? the world is now so fickle* 
Scarce is there room for Sheridan (e) and Tickell ; (/) 

And 

(</) The narrie suggests the honourable mention of a poerai 
lately published, under the title of " The Baviad/' or an 
Imitation of the first Satire of Persius. QuatiU, que? tali reddarx 
pro carmine dfow* ^-Though the author professes to be conversant 
only among the sheep-folds at present, he threatens a descent 
upon the nobler and more reluctant animals. If this be a first 
production, the poet must proceed with the consciousness of 
genius: he has the ground work of all excellence, good sense, 
and a knowledge of just and harmonious expression. He has 
divulged his name imprudently. Such compositions require 
•ecresy for their effect; especially if they are published at am 
early period of life, and still more if the poet commences his 
career with Satire; Mr. Pope suffered " pure description to 
u hold the place of sense" for a long time, before he ,took his 
proper station. The author of The Baviad has taken some 
pleasant trouble off my hands. The Albums, the Laura-Marias, 
the Jerninghams, Antony Pasquins, Mary Robinsons, Piozzis 
and Bozzi's ; the " Phillidas, Hypsipilas, vatum et plorabile si 
" quid," Unfortunately there are too many left. (1794-) 



C 46 3 

And though in tone sonorous, blithe or grand, 
The loud Laurentian (g) trumpet through the land 
Sound Pitt, and Frettyman, and Rose, and Rolle, 
With strength of Stentor, but Mezentian soul; 30 
The Doctor may for Fox and Portland (i) vouch.. 
With spectacles on nofe, (ii) but empty pouch. 

Why 



{e\ R.B. Sheridan, Esq: MP. I am softy to say of this 
cxtraordbiay man, that in the realms of wit and humour he is 
now silent. u Vnus sceptra potitus, eadem aliis sopitu' quiete 

est." Why is- it so? Politics are transitory ; wit is eternal. 



(C 



(/) Since this was written, the public has lost this very 
ingenious man. He was the happiest of any occasional writer 
in his day : happy alike in the subject and in the execution of 
it. I mention with pleasure " Anticipation, the Wreath of 
" Fashion, &c. &c. &cf and I wish to preserve the name and 
remembrance of such a man as Mr. Tickell. Poets and ingenious 
men, who write on occasional subjects with great ability, are 
too often lost in the most undeserved oblivion. But we must, 
recollect, that even such a poem as '« The Absalom and 
w Achitophel" of Dryden himself (in my opinion, his greatest 
production) was but eccaslanal, and written/or a/tartjr. 



(g) It is hardly necessary to remind the reader of the political 
composition of the Rolliad and the Probationary Odes by Dp, 
Laurejace and Company, (1794.} 



C 47 ] 

Why must you seek this sad Cumzean shore ? 
Or why to genius give one victim more ? 

AUTHOR, 

Forgive me : all conspire to waste my time ; 
Languor, and care, and solitude, and rhyme ; 
Now while each Sage, to fame and science known 3 
Or leaves the field of life, or listless grown* 
Reviews his trophies with an idle pride, (k) 
Sick of the dunces rising at his side. 40 

\i) I know not for whom the Doclor will now vouch; I am 
not called upon to vouch for the Doctor. (1796.) 

" Manners with fortunes, humours turn with climes, 
" Tenets with books, and principles with times." 

(zV) Shakspeare says, " With spectacles on nose and pouch on 
*' side." I am contented simply to admire Doctor Lawrence's 
spectacles, but I have ventured to qualify his pouch— I wrote 
this in 1794. — Doctors Commons and the House of Commons 
are recommended in all the chronic cases of the deficient 
crumena y and are found to be excellent restoratives. (1798). 

(I) I allude to such publications as, •* Prose on several occa- 
st siona, accompanied by some Pieces in Verse. By George 
" Colman, (Senior)." I think, however, that it is a provident 
wisdom in men of great abilities, like Mr. Colman, to collec^ 
and publish what they wish to deliver to posterity as their »w/ri 
Pesthumous works are rarely to be considered in that light, 




r 48 j 

If I may write, let Proteus (/) Priestley tell* 
He writes on all things, but on nothing well; 



Whd 



(/) Proteus Priestley.— There is one very materia] difference 
between this Proteus and his namesake of antiquity. Of the 
latter it is recorded, Sine vi non ulia dabit praecepta § ; now our 
Proteus gives " precept upon precept, line upon line; here a 
" little and there a little j" and is continually obtruding his 
Bracks upon the public, without any compulsion at all, upon 
every subject which can, or which cannot be known. I believe 
that Dr. Priestley would dispute very intelligibly upon the 
famous Germanic question, " tJtrum Chimasra bombinans in 
•' vacuo possit comedere secundas intentiones." 

As to Dr. Priestley's King-killing wishes and opinions take a 
few words: " Ii is to be regretted, that the situation of 
" things was suck, that the sentence (of death on Charles 
" the First) could not be passed by the whole nation, or. 
*■ their representatives, solemnly ASSEMELED for that /iur* 
" /lose" Priestley on Government, p. 39. Are the words and 
the meaning plain ? How must this Reverend Deputy Elect to 
the National Convention of France have exulted on the-2ist of 
January, 1793!!! The Deputy, however, had the wisdom of 
the serpent in not taking his seat, though he could not assume 
the innocence of the dove. 

The late Mr. Gibbon well understood Dr. Priestley's 
character and opinions, and expressed himself strongly on that 
subject. No man of discernment can see their direct tendency 
but with reprobation, and sometimes not without fear and 
horror! (1794).— Lord Sheffield has lately published the cor- 
respondence between Mr. G. and Dr. P. in the first volume of 
Mr. Gibbon's Posthumous Works, 4to. These letters are not 
unworthy of attention. (1796). 

§ Virg. Georg. L, 4, 



C 49 ] 

Who, as the daemon of the day decrees. 
Air, books, or water makes with equal ease. 
May not I strive amid this motley throng, 
All pale and pensive as I muse along? 

OCTAVIUS, 

Say, would your thought to Homer's pomp aspire; 
Or wake to loftiest rapture Pindar's (m) lyre ? 

Go 



(m) Pindar's Lyre.— In this verse I speak of the great Thebaii t 
but there is an obscure person, stiling himself Peter Pindar, of 
whom I shall say a few words. This man certainly possesses a 
mind by no means uninformed, and a species of humour; but it 
is exhausted by a repetition of the same manner, and nearly the 
same ideas, even to disgust. He has the power of rhyming ludi- 
crously, and is sometimes even gifted with poetry ; and finally, 
he is puffed up with a vanity and self-conceited importance, 
almost without a parallel. This obscure man has contrived, by 
these qualifications, to thrust himself upon the public notice, 
and become the scorn of every man of character and of virtue. 
Such is the blasphemy, such is the impiety, the obscenity, the 
impudence, and the contempt of all decent respect, which per- 
vade his numerous pamphlets in verse, that the reader is ili 
repaid by the lively sallies of humour which frequently animate 
this mass of crudities. I form my judgment from his works^ 
and not from any acquaintance whatever with the man« 

D Yet 



C 50 ] 

Go then and view, since clos'd his cloister'd davj 
The self- supported melancholy Gray : (#) ^d 

Dark 



Yet I hear that €i he breathes a warm constitutional spirit, 5 * 
because forsooth he has told us, in some trumpery ode, of the 
necessity of a fong> or a log i or a nail; after he has perpetually 
reviled and held up to scorn every master principle, by which 
government and society are maintained. I will not waste a 
Verse on such a character; but say honestly and plainly, that 
though I can often smile, and sometimes be pleased, with the 
"humour and the manner, yet I think I perceive such a rooted 
depravity and malignity of heart that, from the consideration of 
his works, I can affirm almost unequivocally of this obscure 
man, in the words of the severest writer of antiquity^ 

Stupet hie vitio, et fibris increvit opimum 
Pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto 
Demersus, summa rursum non bullit in unda f. 

N. B. This man's works (now published) amount in value to 
above four guineas', but we are informed that a set may be had for 

TWO GUINEAS AND A HALF IN 4TO, Or for TWO GUINEAS in 

four volumes 8vol !! — What an inducement to a purchaser! 
(1794). — Posterity (if it can be supposed that su^h trash should 
exist) will be astonished, that the present age could look with 
patience on such malignant ribaldry. 

(«) This character of Mr. Gray is drawn from the consider 
ration of his Memoirs and Letters, published by Mr. Masojj* 

f Pers. Sax. 3. v.3»« 



C 51 ] 

Dark was his morn of life, and bleak the spring, 
Without one fost'ring ray from Britain's king ; (tin) 
Granta's dull abbots cast a side-long glance, 
And Levite gownsmen hugg'd their ignorance : 
With his high spirit strove the master bard, 
And was his own exceeding great reward, (o) 

Saw you not Mason stand with down-cast eye, 
While great Augustus pass'd unconscious by ? (/) 

'Till 

{jtn) If I have read Mr. Gray's Letters rightly, I believe ht 
neither sought nor wished for royal favour. I wish, however, 
that it had been offered to the first poet and the first scholar of 
the age. 

Mr. Gray rose and shone forth, in the full brightness of 
his genius, in the reign of George the Second. He was 
appointed Professor of Modern History in the University ofs 
Cambridge, late in life, by the Duke of Grafton the Chancellory 
at the particular recommendation (as it was strongly believed) 
of Mr. Stonehewer. Mr. Gray however was promoted (if 
the appointment can be called a promotion for such a man) in. 
the reign of George the Third. 

(o) " I am thy exceeding great reward." 

Genesis, c. 15. v. i. 

{Ji) The discernment of his Majesty George the Third 
in poetical merit, is acknowledged in the patronage of Dr. 
Beattie, Author of The Minstre], and of Mr. Cowper, Author 
of The Task. Mr. Mason must have been overlooked for a 

D z particular 




[ 5*. ] 

*Till wrapt in terrors of avenging night. 

He starts Macgreggor (q) with dilated might. 60 

Have you not seen neglected Penrose (r) bloom, 
Then sink unhonour'd in a village tomb ? 
Content a curate's humble path he trod, 
Now, with the poor in spirit, rests with God, 

To 

particular reason. T shrewdly suspect that Mr. Stqnehewer (the 
common friend of Mr. Gray and Mr. Mason) could account 
fork. (1794). 

(q) See the Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers, and the 
Heroic Postcript to the Public, by Malcolm Macgregor, Esq." 
A friend of mine has assured me that I am wrong in this conjec- 
ture; and I must own that the Epistle to Shebbeare, and the 
Dean aiid the Squire, attributed to the same author, have some- 
what diminished, but not destroyed, my confidence in it r s 
probability (tf). The abilities of great men are generally versatile. 

As I have written the lines, they shall continue to stand 
as a tribute of gratitude to a man, from whose acknowledged 
poetry I have received much delight. The strains of 
Musseus, and the Druid minstrells have still their charms; and 
he must have cold feelings who cannot be moved by the sim- 
plicity of Elfrida. The English Garden, though with a few 
faults, deserves the thanks of every admirer of our national taste, 
(1794). See the Fourth Dialogue of the P. of L. (1798). 

(«) The papers of the late Lord Orford (Horace Walpole) may 
.possibly throw Some light on this subject, (March 1798)* 



r 53 i 

To. worth untitled would your fancy turn ? 
The Muse all friendless wept o'er Mickle's (j) urn : 
Mickle, who bade the strong poetic tide 
Roll o'er Britannia's shores in Lusiianian pride. 

AUTHOR. 

Then I must suit the temper of these times, 
Degraded now to mere historic rhymes ; 70 

And last be hail'd in some sagacious page, 
The finest, brightest poet of the age; 
And that with grave solemnity so sad, 
Faith, tis enough to make poor Hayley [t) mad. 

No: 

(r ) See the Flights of Fancy, 4to, by Thomas Penrose, Curate 
of Newbury, Berks. The names of the poems alluded to arc 
these, The Helmets, The Carousal of Odin, and Madness.— 
He published these himself, and no more; and I speak of these* 
No author should be judged for posthumous works, published by 
friends, except he ordered them to be published after his decease, 

(s) William Julius Mickle, a man of genius, and of great 
poetical powers. He translated the Lusiad of Camoens in a free 
paraphrastic manner, but with the spirit of an original poet. I 
never could account for the neglect of so very poetical a work^ 

(/) Hayley. — Piger scribendi ferre laborem, 

Scribendi recte, nam ut multum nil moror. f 
f Hor, 1. L. 1. Sat. 4. v. 1$, 
L P $ Tk* 



[ 54 1 

No : though in vain I may attempt to please, 
I'll write with learning what I think with ease. 

What ? — from the Muse, by cryptogamic stealth, (i/) 

Must I purloin her native sterling wealth ? 

In 

The notes which Mr. Hayley, who is a very ingenious man 
and a pleasing scholar, has written on his various poems are 
very amusing, and not unfrequently afford much instruction. 
Had he but learned the art of blotting, he might possibly have 
attained considerable eminence, and preserved it. But as he is in 
general too feeble, tedious, and insufferably prolix, (une boutique 
de verbiage) consequently, &c &c. See Horace, who has 
pronounced an irreversible sentence on all such persons stiling 
themselves poets, however voluminous their works may be. 

(v) See " The Botanic Garden and the Loves of the Plante, 
* { by Dr. Darwin." I wish men would peruse the treatise de 
Causis Corruptee Eloquentiqs, (a) before they attempt by pretti- 
nesses, glittering words, points, conceits, and forced thoughts, 
to sacrifice propriety and just imagery to the rage of mere 
jiovelty. This will always be the case, when writers in prose, 
or verse, (if I may be allowed to use Sancho's phrase a little, 
metaphorically) " want better bread than is made of wheat." 
Modern ears are absolutely debauched by such poetry as Dr 
Darwin's, which marks the decline of simplicity and true taste 
in this country. It is to England, what Seneca's prose was to 
Rome : Abundat dulcibus vitiis. (b) 

Dryden and Pope are the standards of excellence in this 
species of writing in our language; and when young minds 

are 

(a) Printed at the end of Tacitus, under the title " Dialogus 
^ de Oratoribus," one of the most finished treatises of antiquity, 
{b) Quintil. Jib, 10. c. i. 



C 55 1 

In filmy, gawz3', gossamery lines, 
With lucid language, and most dark designs^ 80 
In sweet tetrandryan^ rrionogynian strains, 
Pant for z,py still in botanic pains ; 
On the luxurious lap of Flora thrown^ 
On beds of yielding vegetable down, 
Raise lust in pinks \ and with unhallow'd flft: 
' Bid the soft virgin violet expire ? (x) 



Is it for me to creep, or soar, or doze, 
In modish song, or fashionable prose ? (y) 



To 



are rightly instituted in their works, they may, without much 
danger, read such glittering verses as Dr. Darwin's. They will 
then perceive the distortion of the sentiment, and the harlotry of 
the ornaments. It would also be a happy thing for all naturalists, 
whether poets or writers in prose, if they would in the words 
of a true poet, *• Look through Nature up to Nature's God!" 
Dr. Darwin is certainly a man of great fancy ; but I will not 
cease to repeat, that good writing and good poetry require some, 
thing more. 

Oi/ yap ev fASGQicri xeitou 

(x) I would just hint that it is a matter of some curiosity to 
me to conceive, how young ladies are instructed in the terms of 
botany, which are very significant. It cannot however even 
be supposed, that any person would discountenance the study 
of Botany and of Natural History which opens^ enlarges,' and 
animates the youthful mind, when conducted with propriety a.nd, 
discrimination, P 4 



[ P i 

To pen with garreteers obscure and shabby, 
Inscriptive nonsense in a fancied Abbey ;{z) 99 

Or some Warkworthian hermit tale endite, 
Such ditties as our goslp spinsters write ? . 

Say, must I tempt some Novel's lulling theme 3 
Bid the bright eye o'er Celestina (zz) stream - 3 

With 

{y) I allude to the poising of sentences, their triads, and 
other artificial divisions of modern prose, by which the whole 
simplicity aud natural dignity of our English style are abandoned 
and lost. 

(z) Such trash as a vile pamphlet called Kilkhampton Abbey, 
&c. &c, &c. in short the whole mugitus Labyrinthi. Every 
age produces similar trash, and this name serves, as well as any 
other, to mark my meaning in this place. 

(zz) Put for almost any modern novel. Mrs. Charlotte 
Smith, Mrs. Inchbald, Mrs. Mary Robinson, Mrs. &c. &c. 
though all of them are very ingenious ladies, yet they are too 
frequently ivhining ox frisking in novels, till our girls' heads 
turn wild with impossible adventures, and are now and theri 
tainted with democracy. 

Not so the mighty magician of the Mysteries of 
Udolp.ho, (a) bred and nourished by the Florentine Muses in 
their sacred solitary caverns, amid the paler shrines of Gothic 
superstition, and in all the dreariness of inchantment; a poetess 
whom Ariosto would with rapture have acknowledged, as the 

x La nudrita 

Damigella Trivulzia al sacro speco.* (1796.) 

I \you]c) 

(a) Mrs, Anne Rapcuffe, * O. F. c.46. 



[ 57 3 

With fabled knights, and tales of slighted love, 
Such as our Spanish Cato (a) might approve ? 



In 



I would say a word on Romances or Novels. No man of 
genius or of judgment ever despised or neglected the great master* 
in this useful and alluring species of writing, beginning with 
the Odyssey of Homer. No works can be read with more 
delight and advantage,when they are selected with discrimination; 
they animate and improve the mind. Every person should 
be well acquainted with the whole of Cervantes, of Le Sage's 
unequalled and unrivalled Gil Bias, and of Tom Jones, (that 
great comic Epic poem) by Fielding. These perhaps are all 
which it is necej/ary to read; and they afford illustration to every 
event of life. 

From these, with great caution, we must pass to later writers. 
Smollett had much penetration, though he is frequently too 
vulgar to please; but his knowledge of men and manners is 
unquestionable. Of Sterne and Rousseau it is difficult to speak 
without being misunderstood; yet it is impossible to deny the 
praise of wit and originality (a) to Yorick, or of captivating elo- 
quence to the philosopher of vanity. Their imitators are below 
notice. I never read the Eloisa without the pathetic exclama- 
tion of Dante: 

Per 

{a) I cannot think that the ingenious, amusing, and acute 
observations of Dr. Ferriar, in which he has traced some of 
Sterne'shints and remarks to Rabelais, Burton, and other writers, 
detract from the absolute originality of his genius. They 
point out the train of his wild and excentric reading; but his 
manner and his wit are still, and will ever continue to be, exclu- 
sively his own. (i^oo.) 



C 58 J 

In Travels for the Heart, \b) and not the head, 
From post to pillar, and from board to bed, 

Thro 1 

Per piu fiate gli oechi ci sospinse 
Quella lettura, et scolorocci il visoj 
Ma solo un puntofu, quel che ci vinse. 
Quando leggemmo, cominciai, Ahi^ lasso I 
Quanti dohi /zensier^ quantv desio 
Mend costoro al ddeioso jtasso ! (£) 
Th« Elpisa is a very dangerous book, in it's commencement, and 
1 would particularly warn young persons to avoid it The book 
h now indeed beyond the reach of any control ; but as the cha- 
racter of the author is now fully understood, it's power of doing 
harm is considerably diminished. But to extract good out of evi\ t 
I must observe, it is but justice to the author of it, to acknow- 
ledge, that, (as the book is so much read and cannot be sup- 
pressed,) the result.from the perusal of the whole taken together is. 
this, namely; that perpetual uneasiness, disquietude, and often 
irreversible misery are the certain consequences of vice, or of 
fatal misconduct, in any woman however gifted, or as it 
appears, however reclaimed. It is difficult, I think it is 
impossible, to deny or disprove this \ but I still wish the novel 
bad never been written. 

Let us then turn to Clarissa, the work of a man of virtue and 
genius, which is too celebrated for any additional praise. Mrs. 
Charlotte Smith has great poetical powers, and a pathos which 
commands attention. Much knowledge of life and ingenuity- 
are seen in Miss Burney now Mrs. D'Arblay's Novels; but her 
propensity to high colouring and broad farce have lessened 
their effect. It is a fatal error in this species of writing to, 
overstep the boundaries of nature and of real life. I cannot 
descend among all the modern farrago of novels, which are too, 

oftea 
{b) Dante Inf. c. $• 



[ 59 3 

- Through climes of various woe the pilgrim lead* 
Till Charlotte droops, and master misses bleed, ioo 

OCTA- 

often " receipts to make — 'S." Yet I could select a few, which 
have merit, with great pleasure, if it were not foreign to my 
purpose to enlarge on this topic. 

I cannot however refrain from giving a just and sensible ob- 
servation from the latest writer on this subject, in his view of 
Romance*; an Essay composed rather hastily, and perhaps 
inaccurately, but with all the power of pleasing and happy facility 
of writing so conspicuous throughout his works. Dr. Moore 
thus expresses himself: " Modern romances and novels are, or 
*' ought to be, a representation of life and manners in the coun~ 
€i try, where the scene is placed. Had works of this nature 
*? existed in the flourishing ages of the Greek and Roman Repub- 
* e lies, and had some of the best of them been preserved, how 
■P infinitely would they be relished at present! as they would 
*' give a much more satisfactory picture of private and domes- 
" tic life than is found in history, which dwells chiefly on 
* { war and affairs of state." (i 798). 

{a) The late venerable Earl Camden (once Lord High Chan- 
cellor of England, a character of dignity, ability, learning and 
independance,) is said to have learned Spanish very late in life, 
to read the romances in that language ; having exhausted those 
written in English, French, and Italian. All the world knows 
that Cato learned Greek at sixty years of age, to read the 
romances in that tongue. 

{h) All such w;orks as abound in what is called in modern 
jargon, the sublime instinct of sentiment. 



* Prefixed to Dr, Moore's edition of Smollet's works in 1797, 
page 93. 



c 6o J 

OCTAVIUS. 

If these disgust, to serious cares attend, 
And make serene Philosophy your friend. 
Pen some choice Fragment (c) in the genuine taste, 
Each pow'r combin'd of wit and learning waste ; 

Smart 

(r) Alluding to the swarm of free thinking and democratical 
pamphlets with which the public have been pestered. It is 
hoped that the interference of the legislature, and the constitu- 
tional exertions of private societies have either lessened their 
number, or deprived them of their malignant intentions. The 
time for discrimination seems to be come. Toleration is fully 
granted to all opinions, subject to the controul of the legislature 
after their publication, in the open courts of law by the verdict 
of a jury, in which true liberty consists. Good order and just 
authority must be maintained with vigour and decision. 

But he is chiefly to be consulted, who, if I may be allowed 
to use the language a little metaphorically, " hath stood between 
** the dead and the living, and stayed the plague," Edmund 
Burke! greater and brighter in the decline, than in the noon- 
day of his life and vigour. It would be almost an injury to 
name the works whereof all Europe rings; but to his country* 
men they speak with a force not to be resisted. 

OMNES 

Admonet, et magna testatur voce per umbras, 

DlSCITE JUSTITIAM MONITI,ET KON TEMNERE DIVOS. (1794.J 

On a second consideration however I think it right to name these 
works of Mr. Burke, i. Reflections on the Revolution in France, 



C 61 ] 
Smart and concise, with deepest meaning fraught, 
Neat be the types, and the vignettes high wrought > 

With 



&nd on the proceedings in certain societies in London relative to 
that event. (1790.) 2. A Letter to a Member of the National 
Assembly* (1791). 3. An Appeal from the New to the Old 
Whigs in consequence of some discussions in Parliament relative 
to the Reflections on the French Revolution. (1791). 4. A 
Letter on the Attack made on him in the H. of L. by the D. of 
Bedford, and the E. of Lauderdale (1796). 5. Two Letters 
on the proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of 
France (1796.) 6. (Posthumous in 1797,) Letters on the conduct 
of our domestic Parties with regard to French Politics, includ- 
ing Observations on the Conduct of the Minority in the Session 
of 1793. 7* Memorials on French affairs, 1791, 92, and 93.-«« 
N. B. The remainder of Mr. Burke's posthumous writings may be 
expected from the exemplary zeal and honourable attention of 
his executors, Dr. Laurence and Dr. King. " Sunt adhuc 
<; curse hominibus fides et officium; sunt qui defunctorura 
'* quoque amicos agant.'' * (1797.) 

Whoever warns the living against a mortal distemper, or 
shews the causes of it, and the mode of prevention, and the final 
remedy, may be said to stand, as a guardian angel, between the 
dead and the living. In this sense, Edmund Burke stayed the 
plague, by his masterly, vigorous, and formidable exposure, to 
the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, of the modern 
French principles and national desolation, in all the fullness of 
their deformity, and in the terrors of their operation. The- 
spear of Ithuriel discovered and displayed Satan in hi* proper: 
shape. 

,*. ' * Plin, Ep, 



£ 6 2 3 

With frontispiece to catch the gazer's eye, 
Treason, the pile; the basis, blasphemy. (<:<:) 
Free from dull order, decency, and rule, 
With dogmas fresh from the Sans Souci-school ^ no 
With definitions vague and terms mysterious, 
Seeming humility, but tone imperious* 
Mankind's meek friend, and Nature's gentle sage. 
The Priest of Reason in her chosen age -, {d) 

Then 



(cc ) The basis, blasphemy. — This is the progress of modern 
Republicanism. The dissolution or rejection of all religious 
principle prepares the mind for breaking every bond of esta- 
blished government, however just or reasonable, to introduce 
into practice some new theory of general good : so very general-, 
as to have nothing to do with the good of ihe individual. For 
the nature of this general good consult the National Assembly 
and Convention of France : " Agri, edificia, loca, possessiones, 
*' (ccelum et mare praetermiserunt, csetera complexi sunt) 
" publice data, as si gnat a, <venditaP*\ Mirabeau began with 
'these memorable words: " Si vous voulez une Revolution, il 
6t faut commencer par dscatholictser la France" (1794.) 

(d) One of the most extraordinary treatises of this kind, is & 
work in French, intitled, " The Ruins; or a Meditation on 
*' the Revolution of Empires ; by Mr. Volney, Deputy to the 
«* National Assembly in 1789." It is written with some spirit, 

antt 

f Cic. deLeg. Agrar. Orat* 3* 



C 63 ] 

Then bending low, with equal reverence search 



The 



and not without eloquence in some parts, and abounds with what 
is now called Philosophy. 

The intent of this book is to attack every principle of religion 
in the heart, even the principles of the religion now termed, 
natural. Mr. Volney wishes to convince mankind, that ewry 
pretence to revelation, in every age and in every country, is 
equally false and equally unfounded ; and by a jargon of lan- 
guage, and antiquity, and mythology, and philosophy, he labours 
to confound and blend them all in uncertain tradition and astrome~ 
mhal allusions. And all this is attempted to be done, that the 
ttforld may be prepared for the French Revolution, and the prin- 
ciples on which it was effected. In this point he seems to act not 
without reason, as the principles of this revolution are laid in the 
rejection of all religion, and were so from the very beginning of 
it; though we may be surprised when we are assured, that it is 
*' An age of deliverance for a great people > and of hope for 

" ALL THE EARTH! ! ! (a) 

The real ignorance of this man, on the subject of true religion, 
is as conspicuous as the puny literature which appears to support 
his strange doctrines and foolish opinions. Upon the subject 
of, what he calls, the filiation ©f religions, (for the French must 
have their new jargon of words in every subject) he says, «' We 
44 acknowledge in one word, that all the theological doctrines on 
** the origin of the world, on the nature of God, on the revela- 
*« tion of his laws, and the appearance of his person, are no* 
** thing more than recitals of astronomical facts, and figurative 
« 4 and emblematical stories ofthgphy of the cancellations ! //" i. e. 
du jeu des constellations, (i?) 



(^) P. 83, I refer to the pages Of the French original. 
{b) Volney 3 p. 167. 



[ 64 } 

The stoned portico, and sainted church 3 

Till, 

I cannot but acknowledge the superstition and credulity of 
mankind in many parts of the world; but what Mr. Volney 
would impose upon us, for the truth, exceeds the bounds of any 
credulity ever yet required. Then he introduces the systems of 
idolatry, the worship of the stars, the two principles or dualism, 
(a little more French jargon ;) the monde anime and the monde 
machine, Moses, Zoroaster, Confucius, and Brama : and last 
comes Christianity. The chapter on this subject is the strangest 
of all, for he declares, that Christianity consists in the alle- 
gorical worship of the Sun under the calalistical names of Chris-en y 
er Yes-us or Jesus !/ f u Christianisme ou cuhe allegorique du 
" Soldi, sous les noms cabalistiques de Chris-en ou Yes-us ou 
«' Jesus IIP 9 And this is a formidable opponent ! this is one 
of the guides to whom we are to give up our prejudices ! Read 
any one of the four Evangelists, and then give your own answer. 

The impudence of Mr. Volney is at least equal to any other 
power he possesses, for he requires of his reader only the surren- 
der of his common sense, and common understanding, and the 
common principles of any knowledge. Yet he demands the 
admission of all his allegories and mystical meanings, (of which, 
in the true French stile, no doubt is to be entertained,) and then 
the world is to be emancipated and delivered. From what? — 
From credulity and superstition. Q^ E. D. Upon this Mr. 
Volney observes, " the priests murmur," I think the laity 
will at least do as much, at the words of this apostle of nonsense, 
blasphemy, folly, and— the rights of mankind, which the French 
never fail to introduce, when they have laid them all prostrate, 
civil, moral, and mental. This is but a specimen of such writers, 
to whom we are to bow as the deliverers of mankind from 

superstition 



Itift, wheedling round with metaphysic aft. 



Yoii 



Superstition, and the directors of our minds in the ways of truth, 
*' Professing themselves wise they are became fools !" 

The best men are indeed convinced, that the ways and works 
*>f Providence are inscrutable, and that the nature of God is in- 
comprehensible ; and they lament their ow» ins ufhciency. Yet 
they feel themselves bounfl by the laws of reasoning, and of 
the specific evidence in every great question divine and human. 
They are best prepared to, acknowledge the depth and height of 
eternal wisdom and mercy, and the difficulties of attaining to) 
this knowledge. They assent to the words of a man of no 
vulgar erudition* or mediocrity of talents, when he declares, 
*' Quantis sUspiriis et gemitibus fiat, ut quantulacunque ex parte 
V fossit intelligi Deus!" 

I cannot with nolo 1 the following general observations, which 
iare rational, important, eloquent, and argumentative. " It is 2 
very wonderful thing, that a being such as man, placed on a 
little globe of earth, in a little corner of the universe, cut off 
from all communication with the other systems which are 
dispersed through the immensity of space; imprisoned as it were 
on the spot where he happens to be born ; almost utterly ignorant 
of the variety of spiritual existences* and circumscribed in his 
knowledge of material things, by their remoteness, magnitude, 
or minuteness; a stranger to the nature of the very pebbles on. 
which he treads; unacquainted, or but very obscurely informed 
by his natural faculties of his condition after death ; it is very 
wonderful, that a being such as this, should reluctantly receive, or 
fastidiously reject, the instruction o/tke Eternal Gob! Or, if 
this is saying too much, that he should hastily, negligently, or 
triumphantly conclude, that the Supreme Being never had 

£ conde* 

* Augustinus* 



t 66 3 

You steal Religion from the unguarded hesfrt, 

And 

condescended to instruct the .race of man. it might properly 
have been expected, that a rational being, so circumstanced, would 
have seduloufly enquired into a subject of such vast importance; 
that he would not have suffered himself to have been diverted 
from the investigation by the pursuits of wealth, or honour, or 
any temporal concern j much less by notions taken up without 
attention, arguments admitted withofit examination, or prejudices 
imbibed in early youth, from the profane ridicule, or impious 
jestings of sensual and immoral men. - - Some difficulties will 
undoubtedly remain, and it would be a miracle, greater than 
any we are instructed to believe, if there remained none. If a 
being with but five scanty inlets of knowledge, separated but 
yesterday from his another earth, and to-day sinking again into 
her bosom, could fathom the depths of the wisdom and know- 
ledge of Him, which w, and which was, atid which is to come t 
The Lord God Almighty l" (a) 

Before I close this note, I cannot help reminding, not 
informing, every reader, that even Tacitus, (the favourite author 
of many free thinkers, though I know not why) has borne 
testimony to the existence and last sufferings of Jesus Christ, 
under the procurator Pontius Pilate, in the reign of Tiberius. 
• 4 Auctor nominis ejus Christus, qui Tiberio imperitante, per 
procuratorem Pontium Pilatum, supplicio affectus erat*.'' Yet 
we are assured, with an effrontery without a parallel, that Christ, 
or Chris-en, is only a cabalistical nape of the Sun. So is the name 
of Caesar, of Socrates, or of Plato. Are we not ashamed of 

listening 

(a) Preface (p. 9 and 13) to the Theological Tracts, in six 
volumes octavo, collected by Ric-hard Watson, D. P, bishop of 
JLandaff. 

• Agnal, L. 25. s^tr 44« 



C «7 3 

And in the see-saw undulating play, 

The moral chorus dies in words away* i 2 o 

Thence careless saunt'ring in Vacuna's vale. 

Tune to your listless lyre some Crazy Tale $(f) 

Dash for applause, nor seek a poet's name, 

m 
Content with scribbling and ambiguous fame % 

From laws of metre fee, (which idly serve 

To curb strong genius and it's swelling nerve), 

In verse half veil'd raise titillating lust, 

Like girls that deck with flowers Priapus* bust, (g) 

Go 



listening to such writers as Mr. Volney, who address os so 
unworthily? Yet this is the manner in which Mr. Volney, and 
such as Mr; Volney, treat the whole human race, men and 
women, learned and unlearned. The general character of all 
these writers may be expressed in language at once awful and 
true: " Non est qui judicat vere; confidunt in nihilo, loquuntur 
vanitates; conceperunt laborem, pepererunt iniquitatem." 

(/) See Crazy Tales, &c. and the whole school of La. 
Fontaine* 

(g) See Angelica Kauffman's elegant print; butitist© 
be remembered that the subject is purely classical. 

Speaking on this subject, a friend of mine would insist upon, 
my perusing a long disquisition in quarto, on the Worship 

E 3, ®s 



r 68 3 

Go turn to Madan, and in Gospel truth, 
And Thelypthoric (//) lore instruct our youth : 1 3Q 

Some 

of Priapu9, (printed in 1786) with numerous and most 
disgusting plates. It has not been published, but distributed 
liberally, (a) without any injunction of secrecy, to the emeriti 
in speculative Priapism, as one would think. 

As I hope the treatiie may be forgotten I shall not name the 
author (b), but observe, that all the ordure and filth, all the 
antique pictures, and all the representations of the generative 
organs, in their most odious and degrading protrusion, have 

beea 



(a) i. e. By the Dilettanti Society. The solemnity with which 
the Dilettanti meet and present their valuable works to the chosen 
few, and the inscription in the blank leaf of each book, arc 
rather ludicrous; The President (of the day) is invested with 
a Roman Toga in a sort of consular pomp. Before the vote for 

printing Mr. 's Priaput had passed, I should have said 

with Roman sternness, had I been present, '« I lictor, colliga 
*' manus§."— This Roman farce would (and perhaps may) form 
the subject of a legitimate Satire. (1796). The Dilettanti 
Society best know what emblem, modelled in wax, is laid upos 
their table at their solemn meetings. 

< 6 Graee 
* l Discumbunt % nee *velari pictura jubetur : 
** For si tan expect cs, ut Gaditana canoro 
*■ Incipiat prurire tboro" Juv. 

(b) The author afterwards named himself, and was very angrjr 
with me without any reason. I only did my duty to the pufe« 
lie.—- See P, of L. Dial. 2. v. 57. (Added Aug. 1797). 

$ Liv. Lib. {. c. s6. 



C 6 9 3 

Some plain positions lay, as simply thus ; 
Marriage (J) consists m—actu coitus : 

Laymen 

been raked together and copulated (for no other idea seems to be 
in the mind of the author) and copulated, I say, with a new 
species of blasphemy. Such are, what I would call, the records 
of the stews and bordellos of Grecian and Roman antiquity, 
exhibited f©r the recreation of antiquaries, and the obscene 
reveliings of Greek scholars in their private studies. Surely this 
is to dwell mentally in lust and darkness in the loathsome and 
polluted chamber at Capreae. Essays on Landscape and Gar- 
dening may, I hope, purify the mind : and as the author is 
conversant with Greek writers, aid is now at a certain time of 
life, I recommend to him a sentence from an author, who per- 
haps is not in his catalogue, though Mr. — — would b* 
thought a philosopher: 

(h) See a book entitled Thelypthora, or The Causes of Female 
Ruin; in 3 vols. 8vo. — Mr. Madan says, '« The crime of adul- 
** tery increases among us, insomuch that one would think many 
*' of the British ladies, either never read their Bibles at all, or 
4t else only that edition of it, which was printed by the Company 
" of Stationers in the time of Charles the First, wherein they 
•• printed the seventh Commandment without the word not,'* 
Thelypth. vol. 1. p. 69. zd edit. 

{*') These expressions, and some that follow, are taken 
verbatim from the book itself; (chap, r and 3. ad edit.) and 
yet there are persons who think that such treatises should be 
answered seriously. 

N. B. Jf in this place, and in a very few others, I have been 
obliged to introduce some expressions which are rather strong, 

E 3 readers 



[ 70 ] 

Laymen may have ten wives ; poor priests (//) but one : 
Then growl at British laws in surly tone. 
That ^ loving man must grind with loving wife 
In mola asinaria, during life," (iii) 

E'en give withThickness(£)useful Hints for Health, 

For public good, though not for private wealth ; 

Like 

readers who reflect, will pardon me ; for it is impose, 
sible to give an effectual exposure of the an warrantable and 
scandalous licence of some writers without it. The following 
excellent words will explain my meaning: *' The ancient satirists 
* f often used great liberty in their expressions ; but their freedom 
*? no more resembles this licentiousness, than the nakedness of 
46 an Indian does that of a common prostitute. " Hume's Hist, 
pf Eng. vol. viii. p. 33. (Si sic omnia !) 

(ii) See Thelypth, vol. j. p. 117. ?d edit. 

(iii) " As things are with us> the poor man mast grind in 
ff mola asinaria during life." Thejypth. vol. 1. p. 176. sd edit. 

(k) Mr. Thickness, in his « Valetudinarian's Bath Guide,'* 
{dedicated to the Earl of Shelburne, now Marquis of Lans- 
downe, has these words, " I myself am now turned of sixty, 
" and in general, though I have lived in various climates, and 
*' suffered severely in body and mind, yet having always partaken 
*' of the breath of young nvomen whenever they lay in my way, I feel 
*■' none of those infirmities whieh so often strike my eyes and ears 
** in this great city, in men much younger than myself.' 1 Chap. 
the fifth ; to which Mr. T. has put his own name, and he is rather 
a voluminous author. But, alas! what says a witty Jtaliaii? 
V Bglfafemina chg rid$, *vuol dir } bona che piange" 



[ 7* 3 

Like him, to shun the cold embrace of death 9 
Inhale in virgin arms ambrosial breath. 140 

Or from the Alps extend to Norway's rocks, 
With Switzer-Russico-Kamtschatcan Coxe; (;/) 
Then turn full-fraught from bleak Siberia's shore, 
And leave us just as knowing as before. 

Or bound with Harrington in charming spell, 
Of Irish (<?) trouts with gizzard stomachs tell ; 

While 

(«) The Rev. William Coxe, M. A. F. R.S. &c. &c. &c. &c. 
&c. &c. &c. &c. This author is a gentleman of learning* abi- 
lity and information; but he is too prolix and too voluminous. 
" Composuit octo Volumina, inepte magis quam ineleganter *," 
A writer of Travels should tell us what he has seen or heard 
himself^ and not abridge histories of former times, and insert 
them in his book, or croud it with biographical memoirs of 
deceased great men. Travels lose their name by this method of 
composition, and the public complain with justice of the art of 
book-making. 

Mr. Coxe is a writer of great respectability, but my fear 
of his works passing into an example has extorted this notice 
from me. I look upon it as a duty to the public, and to the 
Commonwealth of Literature. (1794). 

(0) This alludes to a very ingenious account transmitted to 
the Royal Society in the year 1774, of a strange fish called 
the Gillaroo Trout, with the gizzard-liks stomach. " The first 

E 4 •' lime 

* Sueton. Claud. Sect. a.i. 



C 72 3 

While o'er the bulk of these transacted deeds 

Prim 



" time (says the Honourable Mr. Barrington) I ever 
*' happened to hear of this singular fish, was from an Irish 
*' Judge, who being on the Connaught Circuit, at Ballvnrobe, 
*' in the county of Mayo, expressed his incredulity with regard 
*' to their existence ; but was obliged to pay the common Irish 
" wager of a rump of beef, and a dozen of claret, on three or four 
** being produced the next day from a neighbouring lake*'* 

The honourable and ingenious Mr. B. next proceeds to inform 
the Royal Society, that these gizzard-stomachs are often served 
up at table in Ireland, (which account this R. S. swallows 
with as much ease as it would the trout itself;) but supposing 
that some might be inclined to doubt, he adds, " I could 
*' corroborate this fact, were it necessary, by the testimony of an 
* 6 Irish Archbishops From an Irish Archbishop, by an easy 
transition, Mr. Harrington introduces an English Fishmonger, 
and declares with great solemnity, *' I have shewn the stomach 
* to Mr, Everett of Clare Market, a very intelligent fishmonger* 
** who declares, that though he has cut up thousands of trouts 
** and salmons, he never observed any thing similar in the 
*' inside !" See (what are called) Philosophical Transactions, 
1774, page 116. Euge, bene, recte. I cannot help saying tQ 
Mr. B. on this occasion, 

Propera stomachum laxare saginis, 
Et tua servatum consume in ssecula rhombum* 

The reader will observe the rhetorical beauties in this short 
extract. Mr. B. darts from Ireland to England with incredible 
swiftness, from Ballynrobe to Clare Market; then come in 
long array, incredulous Irish judges, aad rumps of beef, with 

a dozens 



t n ] 

Prim Blagden pants, and damns {fi) them as he reads: 

author: 



dozens of claret, not tempered, I would swear, with water 
from any trout stream. Next appear Irish Archbishops and 
intelligent English Fishmongers, (an epithet, by the bye, lie 
denies the Archbishop) and all this waste of beautiful language 
and deep research is expended to convince the R. S. of the 
existence of gizzard-stomach'd trouts. Yet this R. S. not only 
receives all this nonsensical ichthvological farrago, but selects it 
for publication by their Council. 

Of Mr. Daines Barrington's talents and erudition I could 
speak, and have often spoken, with great pleasure. But when. 
90 very learned a man will write, and a Royal Philosophical 
Society will publish such stuff, for the edification of Europe, I 
think it proper to select this (from myiiads of late similar piece* 
of stuff) for public notice. Men of real learning and abilities 
(and such I acknowledge Mr. Barrington) may henceforth be 
rendered cautious how they commit themselves and the societies 
to which they belong. The R. S. has been, and might again 
be, of national utility and honour ; it has my best wishes, and 
therefore I have written this note. {1794)* 

All learned Societies must .«aw look to their original princi* 
pies, and consider well the characters of the candidates who are 
©ffered for their choice, as a-sociates. Jf they will not, the 
busts of Newton and of Boyle should be veiled. ( 1 797 ). 

(p) It is by no means intimated that Doctor (I beg pardon) 
Sir Charles Blagden (the Secretary to the R. S. 1794.) is 
given to profane swearing when he is tired on such occasions, 
but such works damn themselves. It cannot be otherwise, till 
the Council will exert some discrimination, and refuse 
$q shelter themselves under their foaljish declaration of not 

answering 



I 74 J 

AUTHOR 

Hear me yet once: (oh might these labours end, 
And I to peace and privacy descend ! ) i <-© 

Must I* like Chatterton, (q) that varlet bright, (r) 
Rouse some new Rowley (s) from a steeple's height ? 

Like 

answering, as a body, for the works they publish. Every society 
must be answerable for it's own sense or nonsense, "as a 
" body," unless they choose to inscribe, in large gold letters, 
over their meeting room, u Corpus sine Pectore!" (1794). 

(q) I draw my humble information of Chatterton from his 
life in the New Biographia Britannica, though I cannot 
compliment Dr. Gregory on such a meagre performance. 
They, who have time, may read Mr. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Bryant, 
Dr. Milles, Mr. Thomas Warton, and all the tribe of major 
and of minor critics (of singh and of double finks, as Mr. Sheridan 
says in bis Critic) on this important subject; but I have read 
something about vits summa brevis &c. &c. and confine myself 
to the general view of this controversy in Mr. Mathias's candid 
and comprehensive Essay. 0794)« 

(r) u I am the veriest varlet that e'er cliew'd," says Falstaff, 
in Henry IV. Part I. Act. 2.-— Mr. Horace Walpole, now 
lord Orford, did not however seem to think it necessary 
that this *varht Chatterton should cfaiv at all See the 
Starvation Act, dated at Strawberry Hill. Vide Gregory's 
Life, as above. ( 1 796) . 

(s) As to this strange subject, the worst that can be said of 
it is, " magno conatu magnas nugasj" but they are trifles 

i jathe;- 






r 75 ] 

Like Hardwicke > (/)shelves with gossip volumesclog, 
Of Baby Charles, and Jemmy's Slave and Dog ? 
Of Lorkin's (v) diligence for lords* arrears, 
With trumpery notes of long forgotten peers > 

Shall I new anecdotes from darkness draw, 
That Strawb'ry Horace on the Hill (w) ne'er saw, 
With wire-wove {/) hot-firess'd paper's glossy glare 
Blind all the wise, and make the stupid stare ? 160 

Or 

rather pleasant and instructive. I am sure Dr. Milles proved a 
pleasant subject for that chef d'oeuvre of wit and poetry, the 
Archaeological Epistle, written by Mr. Mason. 

(t) See the Miscellaneous State Papers, published in 1773* by 
the late Lord Hardwicke, in 2 vols. 4to. Letters from " Baby 
** Charles's dear Dad and Gossip, James the First, and his slave 
* 4 and dog, Steenie Buckingham," &c. &c. There are however 
some curious and valuable papers in the collection. The noble 
editor was a man of learning. 

(<v) " Mr. Lorkin doth use miraculous diligence about- your 
" Lordship's arrears." State Papers, vol. 1. p. 631. N. B. It 
often requires miraculous diligence, even in these days, to get at 
one's arrears. See Mr. Pitt and the Lords of the Treasury, if 
you can get a sight of them ; I never could. ( 1 794). 

(<w) The Hon. Horace Walpole, now Lord Orford, the owner 
pf the Gothic mansion at Strawberry Hill near Twickenham. 



C 76 ] 

Or on imperial foolscap with vignettes 
Engrave, like Staunton, my Chinese Gazettes ? 

Or 



fx) All books of all kinds are now advertised to be printed 
©n a nvire'*wo'vc paper and bet pressed, with cuts, down to the 
Philosophical Transactions, (the uniformity of which work is 
destroyed by this folly unworthy of such a Society,) and Major 
Kennel's learned Memoir on Hindostan; as if the intention 
were, that they should be looked at, and not read « As to the furyfor 
prints and engravings I would observe, that the folly and rapacity 
for gain in some booksellers, have degraded many works of 
established fame, and subjected some learned editors to unmerited 
fidiculc. 1 feel for the injury and injustice which a gentleman, 
I mean Mr. Christian, Professor of the Laws of England at 
Cambridge, and Editor of Blackstone's Commentaries with 
valuable notes and illustrations, and who has weil deserved front 
liis profession, suffered on this occasion. It was a transaction 
shameful and unjustifiable. 

As to the wire- weavers or drawers of paper and hot-pressers, 
I must say to the public, in the indignant words of Apuleius, 
«* Quousque frustra pascetis ignigenos istos V* («) Surely this 
foolery must soon tease. 

I wish every author who prints and publishes his own works 
on a *wire-ivove paper, glazed and hot pressed, would imitate the 
honesty of the late Sir William Chambers, Knight of the Polar 
Star, who says, in a letter to Voltaire, which accompanied his 
wonderful book on Oriental Gardening; *« It contains (says 
*• the Knight) besides a great deal of nonsense, two very pretty prints 
by Bartolozzi." Europ.Mag, for Sept* 1793.— While **" s noc« 

was 

(a) Apuleii Metamorph. L. 7. pag. 157. Ed. Bipont. 178& 



t 77 3 

Or must I, as a wit with learned air, 
Like Doctor Dewlap, (y) to Tom Payne's (z) repaid 
Meet Cyrill Jackson (a) and mild Cracherode, {b) 
9 Mld literary gods myself a god i 

There 

was printing, I was informed that Coke upon Lyttletoa 
with Hargrave's Notes, is advertizing to be published on a 
ivire wotre^ aper and hot pressed. This folly, by such a proceed- 
ing, must surely sign it's own death-warrant. I wish, however* 
that some of our Statutes at Large could be a little wire-drawn 
and hot pressed by a Committee of Parliamentary Printers and 
Compositors. ( 1 794*) 

(y ) Put for any portly Divine, ** ne pour la digestion,'* asr 
La Bruyere would say. The reader will supply one to his fancy. 
But he must not imagine, that I mean mere London Divines^ 
frequenters of roots, plays, operas, Bond-street, and Kensingtoa 
Gardens, or chatterers in booksellers shops, as the representa- 
tives of the British Clergy, who, as a class of men, are in general 
distinguished for literature and philosophy, and for manners? 
correspondent to their profession. ( 1794) . 

(2) Not Tom Paine the Democrat, whom we all execrate, 
and who is now, with or without a head in France, I hope 
in the late fashion of that country (in 1794); — but one of the 
best and honestest men living, the very respectable Mr. Thomas 
Payne Senior, to whom, as a bookseller, learning is under 
considerable obligations. I mention this Trypho Erneritufc 
with great satisfaction. 

. (a) The present Dean of Christ-Church, Oxford, exemplary 
for his diligence and learning «« /* oyR University ," astheDeaq 
fans to talk. (1794) 



t ?s 3 

There make folks wonder at th* extent of genius 

In the Greek Aid us* or the Dutch Frobenius^ 

And then to edify their learned souls, 

Quote pleasaunt sayings from The Shippe of Foles. 1 75 

Hold ! cries Tom Payne, that margin let me measure, 

And rate the separate value of each treasure. 

Eager they gaze: C€ Well Sirs, the feat is done ; 

" Cracherode's Poetae Principes (<rr) have won;'* 

In silent exultation down he sits, 

With well be-Chaucer'd Winkyn-Wordian wits. 

Or shall I thence by mock-appointment stop, 
And joke with Bryant at his Elmsly's shop ? 

* And 

(b) The Reverend Clayton Cracherode, M. A. Student 
of Christ Church Oxford, and one of the Trustees of the British 
Museum. A rich, learned, and most amiable man (to use the 
words of the son of Sirach) " furnished with ability, living 
u peaceably in his habitation.'' His library is allowed to be the 
choicest in old Greek and Latin authors, of any private collection 
in this country. (1794.) 

(cc) The famous edition, by H. Stephens, of the principal 
Greek poets, called " Poetac Graeci Principes." All literary men, 
from the little Reverend Bibliopolish Dr. Gosset, well known 
at sales, to the humblest collector, understand this farce of 
war^'tf-measuring, and the profit of it. See also Pi of L» 
Dialogue 4, 



C 79 ] 

And hear it whispered, while I'm wondrous pliant, 
*Twas Doctor Dewlap spoke to Mister Bryant. (4) 

OCTAVIUS. 

How just was he, who in this sapient age, 
When learning's varied cares the mind engage, 
Stood up self-taught, and in mankind's defence 
Pray'd for Professors of plain common sense! 
But say, what think you of the tragic Stage? (dd) 

AUTHOR. 

{d) When I name Mr. Bryant, it Is a sufficient eulogy. The 
reader however is referred to the Second Dialogue of this Poem 
€n the P. of L. 

{dd) As to the modern Comedies of the day by Mr. Reynolds, 
and the rapid School, they are below criticism. Farce and 
O'Keefe have seized upon the stage. " The players and I 
** are, luckily, no friends.'* {1797.) 

I wish our present writers would consider with attention the 
emphatic words of the Duke of Buckingham in his .Essay oa 
Po&try. 

" But to write Plays /— why, 'tis a bold pretence 

*' To judgment, breeding, wit, and eloquence; 

* l Nay more ; for they must look within, to find 

*« Those secret turns of nature in the mind: &c. &c. &c. n 

The author of The Heiress remembered this. It is the produce 
tica of a man of fashion, delicacy, wit, and judgment. 



f 80 2 

AUTHOR, 

Ko : you'll excuse me there, I know this age* 
What ? from the French (e) Aristotelian school* 
Must I plan Tragedies by line and rule? 
To the high Gods address my first appeal, 
Then bid the press my hidden worth reveal ; 
While round my temples many a tendril plays 
Of owlish ivy with the Msvian bays : 
And close in mournful pomp the tragic rear, 
Though Jephson (cc) scarce can gain the public ear? 

OCTAVIUS. 



(e) There are some deep critics who read Aristotle in French, 
and cice him in Greek.— I know not what to 6ay now; the 
French have proscribed Corneille, Racine, &c. 

{cc) Mr. Jephson, the Author of Braganza, The Count of 
Narbonne, &c. My wish is, 

Grande munus 
Cecropio repetat cothurno.-J* 

But no more dull " Roman Portraits" in4to« 
± Hor* Lib, a. Od, 1, v. iu 



I 8* J 

OC T AVI US. 

Still there are works which lead to sure renowfti 
In the lay habit $ or the sacred gownj 
Will stamp your credit at an easy price, 
Learn'd and ingenious, [d) or a Vir Clariss : 
Take Markham's Armorie, (e) John Taylor's Scul- 

Or Sir Giles Goosecap, (g) or proverbial Fuller, 200 

With 



(d) Any person who communicates levin c single nttt y however 
silly or whimsical, to the modern editors of Shakspeare, is stiled 
the learned and ingenious Mr. two Stars**: the title of Vir Claris* 
zimus is appropriated to the Commentators on the Greek and 
Roman Classics, and often with the same propriety. 

(e) The names of some few books of that vast system of 
Coglionerie % or " Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions/* 
which is called forth to illustrate our old dramatic writers. It 
is high time that the reader of sense should see what may be called 
in the old language, *• the untrussxng of these humorous 
" critics," namely, the Commentators on Shakspeare* frojR 
George Steevens^ Esq. downwards, 

u Ces propos, diras tu, sorit bons dans la Satire, 
€t Pour egayer d' abord un lecteur qui veut rire: 
£ Mais il fauf ]es proyver# En forme* ]*y consens. 

£ H Kcpdai 



C *» J 

With Upton, Fabell, Dodypoll the nice, 
Of Gibbeour cat, (h) white Devils, or (hh) Old Vices 

Theft 



u Repons mois done, Docteur, ct mets toi sur les bancs, 

" Qu'fiST CE QIJ* UN (COMMENTATEUR?)"t 

What is a Shakspearean Commentator ? a specimen of the 
notes will best explain his name, dignity, and import : I shall 
therefore begin. The extracts will be as plenty (and as 
valuable) as blackberries ; though I do not give my reasons upon 
Compulsion } for Sir John FalstafPs advice is good. 

The first chapter of Markham's Booke of Armorie is intitled, 
u The difference 'twixt Churles and Gentlemen;" and it 
ends thus: " From the offspring of Gentlemanly Japhet came 
H Abraham, Moses, Aaron and the Prophets, &c* &c ; also 
<l the King of the right line of Mary, of whom that only 
4t absolute Gentleman Jesus was born, gentleman by his mother 
" Mary, Princesse of coat armour, &c."~— -Reader, Mr. Stee- 
vens and Dr. Farmer will tell you that " all this is so:' 5 and 
you will find it cited too, Hen.V. vol. ix. p. 441, edit. 17935 
though you may begin with a staring doubt, 

(/) John Taylor thus dedicates his " Sculler :'' " To the whol* 
<* Kennel of Antichrist's Hounds, Priests, Friars, Monks, and 
«' Jesuits, Mastiffs, Mongrels, Islands, and Bloodhounds, Bob- 
is* tail'd Tykes, &c. &c. &c." 

(g) Old plays intitled, 6( Sir Giles Goosecap, Banks's Bay 
c< Horse in a Trance, Pierce Pennyless's Supplication to th© 
** Devil, Webster's White Devil, The Merry Devil of Edmon|oi^ 
!* &c. &c. &c.i" in short, toute la diablerie dramatiqug, 

$ Boileau Sat. 8, 



1 B 3 ] 

Then lead your readers many a precious dance, 

Cap'ring 

(b) Of Gibbe our Cat.— Falstaff says, " I am as melancholy 
* c as a Gibbe Cat." H. IV. p. i. a. i. sc. 2. On this the 
Commentators are right pleasant. 

Dr. Johnson begins, " A Gibbe cat means, 2 know not why, an 
" old cat. " Dr.Percy informs us next, that a Gib-cat in Northamp- 
tonshire, means a £fc-cat, which in some parts of England is called 
£ram~cat, and in Shropshire, a /«/>-cat. Then follow other wise 
critics, and last of all appears Mr. Thomas Warton, who brings a 
train of authorities on this important question, shewing bow Gib is 
short for Gilbert, and Tib for Tibert ; how Jack is appropriated to 
a horse, and Tom to a pigeon ; how Chaucer, in his Romaunt de 
la Rose, mentions Gibbe our Cat, to which Tib was synonimous, 
as it is at this day ; bow we read in " Gammar Gurtcn's Needle'* 
(which is a right pleasant, witty, and merry comedy, written by 
Mr. S. Master of Arts) viz. " Hath no man stolen her ducks, 
" or gelded Gibes her cat?'? Upon which Mr. Warton very 
gravely observes, te the composure of a cat is almost character- 
•* istic, and I know not, (see Dr. Johnson's words above) whether 
" there is not a superior solemnity in the gravity of a He-Cat.'* 
Mr. Steevens says, " A Gib Cat is a cat qualified for the seraglio, 
" for all animals so mutilated become drowsy or melancholy .", 

Mr. Warton and Mr. Steevens have left it a matter of doubt 
whether their own drowsiness and gravity, and that of their brother- 
commentators^ was in consequence of &c. &c. &c. (See Abul- 
Pharagi's great Babylonish chapter, ¥ De Semiramide, Sapi- 
*' entibus ejuset Eunuchis, &c") To be sure they do sympathize 
with Gammar Gurton, and her poor unfortunate Gibbe. Cat. 

For my own part, I neither can, nor (if I could) would I decide 
this momentous question; and will only add, without being in 
the least melancholy or drowsy myself, in the words of an 

F » author 



t H ] 

Capping with Banks's Bay Horse in a Trance, 
The Housewife's Jewel read with care exact, 
Wit from old Books of Cookery (?) extract ; 

Thoughts 

author who imparted a mahty vigour to the Roman Muse? 
" Propria quas maribus tribuuntur, mascula dicas." 

(hh) Old Vice was a personage very frequent in our ancient 
comedies. I beg leave to present my reader with a part (and 
a very short part) of Mr. Upton's account of him. « ; Old 
*' Vice was a droli character in our old plays, accoutred with 
*' a long coat, a cap, a pair of asses ears, and a dagger of lath. 
" This buffoon character was used to make fun with the devil, 
*.\ and he had several trite expressions, as, " I'll be with yoa 
*' in a trice — ah hah, boy, are you there X &c." and this was 
** great entertainment to the audience to see their old enemy so 
" belaboured in effigy. Vice seems to be an abbreviation of 
*' Fice-devil; as Vice-roy, Fice-doge, &c. and therefore 
* 6 called, very properly, The Vice. Ke makes very free with 
*' his master, like most other Vice-roys or Prime-ministers, so 
te that he is the devil's Via or Prime- minister. And (adds 
" Mr. Upton) this it is which makes him so saucy/' Extract from 
Mr. Upton's note on Rich. III. act iii. sc. i. 

I make no doubt but the reader will observe the beautiful 
compliment to monarchy and aristocracy most logically deduced. 
This personage has been much patronized of late in France, 
where every species of Vice, old or new, is exercised and useel 
u without any abbreviation/' to speak with Mr. Upton. 

(i) Books xf Cookery. — I am afraid that these extracts will 

prove what Decker, in his Gul's Hornbook, calis, " %he sinful 

** Suburbs of Cookery.'" Mr. Collins, (in his PoTATOE-note, 

at the end of Troilus and. Cressjda) extracts without a blush, 

f frsm 






[ 8 5 J 

Thoughts to stew*d prunes and kissing comfits suit, 
Or the potatoe, (k) vigour-stirring root : 

And 



from the Good Housewife's Jewel, a receipt with all the 
ingredients at full length, " Tq make a tart that is a 
*' courage to a man or woman, 9 * And this is but a specimen. 

Non more probo ; cum carmina hmbum 
Intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu. f 

(k) The commentators on Shakspeare are peculiarly, and 
even zealously, studious in minutely explaining and declaring all 
the various modes and receipts, which the age of the Virgin Queen 
afforded, or recommended for the service of the Queen of Love 
and soft desire. Whole pages are absolutely filed with venereal 
provocatives, with the power of kissipg comfits, stewed prunes, 
the virtues of potatoes, eringo root, &c. &c. Must these comments 
be stiied the " Pauca suo Galio quae vel legat ipsa Lycoris?" 



I sometimes doubt what book I have in my hand. These /#?> 
editors " give all they can, nor let us dream the rest." Mr. 
Steevens, in his advertisement to the edition of Shakspeare in 
1778, seems to have had his scruples on the subject of these 
pious prunes, and virtuous bulbs ; *' Such (says he) as would 
" be acquainted with the propriety of FalstafPs allusion to slewed 
" prunes, should not be disgusted at a multitude of instances, &c. 
M &c. &c." Some folks are very sagacious, and cry out first; 
but it will not do. 

After a very long note on stewed prunes, by Mr. Steevens, 
vol. v. p. 37c. edit, 1778, and vol. viii, p. 529. edit. 1793, 
(which see and read,) The Reverend Doctor Farmer adds, very 
properly, " that Mr. Steevens has so fully discussed the subject 

F 3 «< o£ 

t Pers » Sa.t. *• v. *q.. 



C 86 3 

And then returning from that antique waste, 20^ 

Be 

*' of stewed prunes, that one can add nothing but the price;™ 
(Right: — Hoc defuit unum Fabricio: *) and therefore adds the 
Reverend Doctor, in a piece called Banks's Bay Horse in a 
Trance, 1595, " we have a stock of wenches set up with their 
*' stewed prunes, nine for a tester." At other times these 
subjects are explained in th? learned languages, for the use of 
scholars, as in vol. iv. p. 211, edit. 1778, and in vol, iv, 
p. 80, edit. 1793, by Mr. Sreevens. " Urticas marinae omnes 
< c pruritumqaendam -movent, et acrimonia sueVenerem sopitam 
u et extinctam excitant." Johnston Hist. Nat. de Exang, Aq. 
p. 56. 

I protest I sometimes think these reverend, or irreverend, 
commentators are about to change sexes, or have done so, and 
set up for (what Milton in his Apology for Smectymnus calls) 
u Old Prelatesses with all their young Corinthian Laity. " I 
wonder we have never yet had The Beauties of Mr. Steevens, 
of The Reverend Doctor Farmer, of Mr ; Collins, (the potatoe* 
critic,) &c &c; as a convenient manual for young or old 
men, who would be young. Mr, Collins has given the public 
four pages in 8vo. small print, on the astonishing virtues of 
potatoes, (a tempest of provocation !) printed by themselves at 
the end of Troilus and Cressida. This useful note would have 
been placed with better grace at the end of "Love's Labour Lost*\ 

It is indeed matter of great and offensive scandal to obtrude 
such refuse and filth upon this nation, and upon all the 
eountries in the East and West who read Shakspeare's works. 
It is highly injurious to make Shakspeare the vehicle of sq 
much obscene trash, raked together from old plays, old cookery 
books, and trumpery novels. But, I am told, the poet must be 

illustrated 

* Juv, Sat. 4. Fabrhius, u e% George St sevens Msguirg* 



( [ 87 ] 

BehaiPdby Parr,(/) the Guide of public taste ! 

AUTHOR, 

illustrated. In these particulars, Mr. Steevens, Dr. Farmer, 
Mr. Collins, and Mr. (I know not whom) might as well illustrate 
the latter part of the fourth book of Lucretius. The corruptions 
of our nature are the most mortifying comment; they need 
neither incitement, nor illustration* 

Whoever considers, seriously or politically, the dominion of 
lust and lewdness, and the wide-wastingdesolation and irreversible 
misery which they throw among the defenceless and much- 
suffering sex, left to destitution, and disease, and poverty, and 
despair, and contempt, and barren sorrow ; will be cautious how 
he adds even one unnecessary or heedless incitement to this over- 
bearing fury. A man of sense, if not of morality, in remarking 
on all such passages, as I have noted, and on many others, would 
content himself with saying, ** This or that passage contains an 
<* indecent allusion not uncommon in the novels or plays of the 
*' time;" or at least would be satisfied with a single instance to 
shew it. Whatever is more thau this, cometh from a source 
which is not good. 

At present, there really should be an expurgatory index to the 
hest edition (and in many respects it is the best) of Shakspeare, 
before it is put into the hands of ladies and the younger part of 
the readers of Shakspeare. I believe there is not one refecting 
scholar in this learned kingdom, who will not join in this and 
in the following criticisms on the present subject, whether the 
criticisms are severe, jocular, or indignant. 

Carminaque Aonidum, justamclue probaverat iram!* 

(/) The Reverend Doctor Parr, in his dedication of " Tracts 
« s of Warburton and a Warburtonian, &c." (reprinted in 1789) 

F 4 iiGte., 

* Ovid.Metam. L.6. y, a* 



I 8§ 3 

AUTHOR. 

What ?— must I enter the dramatic course -, 

Burst through the countless squadrons foot and horse ? 

All 

note 8. p. 150, has most kindly pointed put to such undiscern- 
fng persons as myself, that " Malone, Reed, Farmer, and 
" Tyrwhitt, have come forward as the Guides of thi 
* c Public Taste." To be sure he has added, " Mr. Steevens, 
*' the two Wartons, Burke, and in his critical capacity, Dr. 
fi Johnson." But even in this latter part I must remark a 
strange coalition. With the names of Burke and Johnson who 
can place a third modern in the same rank ? Of Mr. Steevens's 
classical erudition and ingenuity much might he said : yet all 
which he has acknowledged as bis own writing, consists of notes 
on Shakspeare, Every one must regret that the History oi* 
English Poetry was left unfinished by it's lamented and deeply 
learned author: and as to his brother Joseph's pleasant Common- 
Place Book on Pope, it was always amusing to me. But whea 
the title of Ci Guides of the Public Taste" is given to Malone, 
Reed, Farmer, (and Tyrwhitt!) who are note-makers alone by 
profession, I find myself constrained to look into my English 
Pictionary for the meaning of the words, guide and taste. 

Indeed I have often wondered, how so deeply learned a scholar 
as Mr. Tyrwhitt ever suffered himself to be enrolled with thesp 
riOte-makerson Shakspeare : but the Leader of them has a tongue 
to flatter and wheedle. Homer explains it best ; tlapfpaccng 

% t'sxXs-^s voov %vax mp (ppovsovruv. Iq this manner the name 

pf Samuel Johnson was inseparably associated with, that of 

George Stevens. 

I have 



[ 89 3 - 
AH that for Massinger and Beaumont fight, 
But leave their authors in a wretched plight; 

From 

I have selected this passage from Dr. Parr's splendid dedication 
of these Warburtonian Tracts, in which a man, in the vigour 
of his faculties and strength, has not thought it unbecoming 
his character to attack, like a puny whipster, the established 
dignity of departed excellence ; and with unbridled licence of 
language has endeavoured to invade the retreat and the repose 
of a most learned and venerable prelate,* now in full age an4 
hoary holiness, I speak with feeling of such a conduct, and I 
speak with the feelings of a man; for what is a mere scholar 
&nd a quoter of Greek, when he forgets the man? I trust Dr. 
Parr has severely felt the unmeaning vanity and silly cruelty of 
calling forth again to public notice these tracts, which their 
authors long wished to give up to oblivion. Leland, and the 
great and truly good and liberal Jortin, might have been as ably 
defended at another time and in another place. 

I cannot be repaid for such indecent conduct by the amusement 
I receive, (to use Dr. Parr's own words) u from the lucky and 
f* lucid intervals between the paroxysms of (Dr. Parr's) polemic 
P phrenzy ; from all the laughable and all the loathsome singu- 
€i larities which float upon the surface of his (Dr. Parr's) diction 5 
*' nor can I hang with fondness and admiration over the crowded, 
*' yet clear and luminous, galaxies of imagery diffused through 
P (Dr. Parr's) works;" p. 151, &c. &c. But if 1 should cite any 
more of such words, the reader would take the Doctor's Greek for 
English and his English for Greek, and be apt to cry out with 
honest old Doyley, in the farce of 1 W/jo 9 s t]?e DupeP" (which I am 
fiot, but the Doctor may know who is,) '4 I'H be curs'd if this, is 

" English,'' 
f Dr, Hurw, Bishop of Worcester. 



r 9° i 

From Capell steal, yet never own the theft, 
And then desert (m) him of his store bereft. 
Oh injur'd Patron of our noblest bard ! 
Capell, (n) receive this tribute of regard, 



And 



•' English." Indeed I have no more time or place to allot in 
this first Dialogue of my Poem to Dr. Parr. — I refer my reader 
to the Third Dialogue, in which the Doctor makes a more 
distinguished appearance. 

{m) There are men now in great vogue who will feel the 
force of these two lines, ( 1 794.) 

(») Mr. Capell, the Editor, I call him the Patron* of 
Shakspeare. This gentleman was of a singular turn of mind, 
perhaps a little too minute, but of a curiosity unbounded and 
insatiable. They who are acquainted with his critical writings 
On Shakspeare, and his accurate researches into this species 
of antiquity, and who have considered and estimated his, 
edition of the poet, will not scruple with me to pronounce him, 
the Father of al) legitimate Commentary on Shakspeare. Tq 
this gentleman's intimacy, and to the knowledge of his most 
learned investigations, were admitted men whom I forbear to 
name. But mark the consequence. His edition was condemned* 
or I should rather say, damned by those, who in the poet's own 
words, 

** To his unguarded nest, like weasel critics, 

*« Came sneaking, and so suck'd his princely eggs." J 

And when the School of Shakspeare in 3 vols. 41.0, was 

published (alas ! after his death) we were told forsooth that we 

had nothing to learn on the subject. 

I ana 

* The 6 npoararzuuv, J Hen. V, Act. 1. Sc.s, 



I 9* 1 

And may this honest verse to life and light 

Call forth thy name, and vindicate thy right. 220 

Must I for Shakspeare no compassion feel, 

Almost eat up by commentating (0) zeal ? 

On 

I am pleased, however, to see that Mr. Capell's Preface is 
admitted into the new edition of Shakspeare, in Fifteen vo- 
lumes. It will not be too much to hope for an edition in Fifty* 
volumes quarto, printed on a wire -we've flaper, g/azed, and hoi 
fressed. 

{0) I hope the reader will not be displeased with a short 
observation on this subject. 

Shakspeare was born in the year 1564, and died on the 23d 
of April 1616, on his birth^day. It was not until seven years 
after his death, that his plays were first collected and published 
together in folio, in the year 1633, by two of his principal friends 
in the company of comedians, Hemminge and Condell. A second 
edition was printed in 163 z. It may seem strange to us, but it is 
true, that no other edition (a) of his works was attempted till- 

eighty- 

(«) I meant, and I mean now, any edition which was corrected* 
Shakspeare's Works were printed undoubtedly in 1664, i68$» 
and 1709, but not published by any editor of eminence. When 
such Critics, as the Mimi or Balatrones Shakspeareani, glory 
in rectifying the Author of the P. of L. in such points of higU 
importance; 

*' If wrong, I smile • if right, I kiss the rod ; 

** Pains, reading, study, are their just pretence, 

_" And a/lthey want, is spirit, taste, and sensed 

Tor * proof, see their writings throughout, (i 8qq.) 



On Avon's banks I heard Action (p) mourn, 
By fell Mmft UtttV £>0gS in pieces torn ; 



Dogs 



o 



eighty-two years after that time, when in the year 17 14 a third. 
trillion was published by Mr. Rowe with very few, if any t 
corrections. 

Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, Capell, Johnson,' 
Steevens, and Malone, have since that time given new editions, 
Mr. Steevens, in the year 1766, published a particular edition 
In four volumes in 8vo. of all the plays which were printed in 4 to., 
ia Shakspeare's life time, or before the Restoration. It is printed 
verbatim from the old copies, and is curious and valuable. 

Mr. Steevens asserts unequivocally, that %i no proof can be given^ 
'* that the poet superintended the publication of any one of these- 
** himself' Pief. vol. i, p. 14. If this be true, as I believe, 
what can any editor arrogate to himself concerning the genuine 
text of this great poet ? lam not speaking of conjectural criti- 
cism, and of an accurate revision of the punctuation, which is of 
real consequence, but of the actual words themselves, as written 
by Shakspeare. The original players, Hemminge and CondelJ, 
were in possession of the only MSS. which were extant at th§ 
very time when the plays were first acted ; and it is probably 
that the play-house manuscript copy was the only one to which 
they could refer; and no MSS. whatsoever existed after that 
time. Shakspeare appears to have wholly neglected or despised 
reputation in succeeding ages. It is for this age to amuse itself 
with schools and galleries ; and without blame, in my opinion. 

(/>) Videre canes; primusque Melampus, 
Famphagusj et Dorceus, velox cum fratre Lycisca, 

JchnQbatesdaa 



E 93 3 

Dogs that from Gothic kennels eager start* 
All well broke-in by Coney-catching (q) Art, 

So 

Ichnobatesque sagax, et villis Asbolus atris, 
Nebrophonosque valens, et trux cum Laelape Thero% 
Labros et Agriodos,-et acuta vocis Hylactor, 
Quosque referre mora est. Eaturba cupidine pr.£Dje* 
Qua via difficilis, quaque est via nulla, sequuntur. 
Heu famuios fugit ipse suos ; clamare libebat, 
Action Ego sum ; Dominum cognoscite vestrum: 
Pellet abesse quidem — sed adest. Ovid. Metam. lib. 3! 

It is conceived that this canine metamorphosis of the 
Commentators on Shakspeare, will be received in a pleasant 
point of view without offence ; for I must speak it to the credit 
of our English .irfacft letter dogs, that, upon the whole, there k 
more harmony among them (a few cases excepted) than among 
the dogs that worried Greek and Roman authors in former 
times. 

I sure!y may be excused for this metaphorical caninity, if Mr. 
Bryant himself has been allowed to declare, without censure, 
that Kt^vss- signify r Oi' hpsis : though certainly the Hierarchy are 
infinitely indebted to him for the discovery. Bryant's MythoL 
vol.i. p. 329, &c. 

(q) The singularity of this term " Coney-catching," (which 
is the only reason of my introducing it) called for my attention; 
as no treatises or farces, or whatever they may be, are more 
appealed to by the commentators, than " Greene's Art of 
'« Coney- Catching; Greene's Ground-work of Coney-Catch- 
" ing; Greene's Disputation between a He Coney. Catcher 
"and a She Coney-Catcher." We have here the Art, and the 
Ground-work, and a Dispute upon Coney-Catching : I hope the 

reader will be satisfied with my accurate references, 

Yet 



f 94 ] 

So tender to the Paphian notes they move* 
Jin d seem as they were only borflfor (qq) love. 

Hark, Johnson (r) srhacks his lash ; loud sounds 
Mounted in rear see Steevens Whipper-in, [the din :_ 

Rich 

Yet as my poor library will not afford these valuable books, 
I profess myself still ignorant of this ancient art of Coney- 
Catching, and therefore am by no means fit for a commentator; 
yet the reader may perhaps think me fit for writing a note or two 
upon these u Snappers up of unconsidered trifles."* 
I do not agree with Mr. Steevens that Coney-catching means the 
art of /licking fiockets ; (see his note on the words " Silly Cheat/' 
vol. iv. p. 36S, ed. 1776.) — except there . is any pleasant 
illusion, by anticipation, to some late editions of Shakspeare. 
My poor pockets cannot keep up with these rising demands 
upon them. Six Pounds Fi fteen Shillings ! ! for the last 
edition of Shakspeare, and without any binding ! I cry you 
mercy, my good Master Steevens ; think of \\s /toor poets. 

(qq) " They of love and love's disport, 
Treat largely, of their mutual guilt the seal." 

Milt. P. L. 

See the Comments on Shakspeare, as above, passim through 
the whole edition. 

(r) Samuel Johnson, L. L. D. The reader must know 
enough of this Huntsman, his green velvet cap, and brown brass 
buttoned coat, and his churlish chiding of every hound that 
came near him, &c.&c. at least it is not Jemmy Boswell's fault 

if 
* Winter's Tale ? a, 4. sc. j. 



f 95 J 

Rich with the spoils of learning's 3Sl&Cit domain, 
And Guide supreme o'er aR the tainted plain. 230 
Lo ! first Melampus (s) Farmer deftly springs, 
(Walter de Mapes (/) his sire) the welkin rings : 

Stout 

if he does not; — Johnson and Boswell ; Auto? koci ©Epocvcov I 
But now we must all regret the loss of the chearful, the pleasant, 
the inimitable Biographer of his illustrious friend. 

' Dr. Johnson's comments on Shakspeare are never sullied and 
contaminated with minute explications of indecent passages. 

He bears no token of those sable streams, 

But mounts far off among the swans of Thames. * 

In whatever Dr. Johnson undertook, it was his determined 
purpose to rectify the heart, to purify the passions* to give 
•' ardour to virtue, and confidence to truth." 

(i) Melampus signifies a dog with black feet. He is supposed 
to have run over the town and county of Leicester , but never 
I could be persuaded to give any account of it.f 

This dog scented out the Learning of Shakespeare with true 
and original sagacity, and absolutely unkennelled it. This is his 
proper praise. Mr. Steevens says, •* Could a jierfect and decisive 
fi< edition of Shakspeare be produced, it were to be expected 



* Pope Dune. L. 2. v. 297. 
•f I lament that Dr. Farmer never published his intended 
History of Leicester. I lament it, but I do not reprobate 
the Doctor, as he behaved in a gentlemanly manner when he 
declined prosecuting that work, which is a real loss to the 
antiquary and the lover of topography. 



I 96 I 

Stout Gloucester (u) mark in Pamjihagus (v) advance* 
Who never stood aghast in speechless trance; 

The 



" only (though we fear in vain) from the hand or Dr. Farmer, 
" whose more serious avocations forbid him to undertake 
*' what, &c. &c." See the Advertisement by Mr. Sreevens to 
Shakspeare, Edit. 1793, P- *.*• Such gravity of compliments 
between two editors, reminds me of what Shakspeare calls* 
"The Encounter of two Doe Apes." (1794) 

(t) Walter de Mapes was the jovial archdeacon of Oxford, 
the Anacreon of the eleventh century. " A decent priest where: 
* ; monkies were the gods, *" and author of the divine ode, begins 
*ling : 

** Mihi sit propositum in taberna mori ; 

Vinum sit appositum morientis ori ; 

Ut dicant, cum venerint angeloruin chori, 

Deus sit propitiushuic Potatori!" &c. 

(«) Stout Gloucester. — War-burton, Bishop of Gloucester.-^ 
See Gray's Bard ; " Stout Gloucester stood aghast in speechless 
«' trance." Stanza 1. 

(v) Pamphagus signifies a dog of a most voracious appetite, 
who fnaps at and devours every thing digestible or indigestible* 
They who are acquainted with the Divine Legation, &c. &c. 
well know the nature of Warburton's literary appetite, and the 
danger of hunting in the fame field with him. With all his 
eccentricities this was a noble dog, and there is not one of the 
true breed left, worthy of the progenitor, though there are a few 
mongrels. * 

J Punciad B. 3. z$h 



t 91 ] 

The sage tchnobates (w) see Tyrwhitt limp | 
Malone Hylactor (x) bounds * a clear-voic'd impi 

Asbaitts 

(w) IchnObates means a dog who tracks out the game before 
him. No one was more diligent than this dog, yet he frequently 
went upon a wrong scent ; but would never suffer the huntsman 
to call him off, especially in the neighbourhood oi Canterbury 
and Bristol, 

If I were again to metamorphose these hounds into men 9 
I should lament the application of Mr. Tyrwhitt's learning 
and sagacity. " Ilium pro literato pleiique laudandum dux- 
*' erunt, quum ille, naeniis quibusdam anilibus occupatus* 
ec inter Milesias Punicas Apuleii sui et hdicra literaria 
" consenesceret."* I will however say* as to my owil 
part, " Ilium pro literato laudandum semper duxi," but with a 
reserve as to the application of his learning. I wish this Ich- 
nobates had been " utilium sagax rerum." 

(#) Hylactor means a dog with a clear and strong voice. One: 
Would think that this dog was one of Canidia's breed, which 
called from the sepulchre the actual remains of the dead to 
enchant and stupify the living. This dog has been scratching 
up the earth about Doctors Commons, and has torn up all the Wills 
of the actors who lived in Shakspeare*s time, and carried them 
In his mouth to the printer of a late edition of that author. 

But when I speak of rational men, it passes the bounds of ail 
sagacity to divine, by what species of refined absurdity the Wills 
and Testaments of Actors could be raked Up and published to 
illustrate Shakspeare. (See Malone's Shakspeare, vol.ii p. i86« 
&c. &c. &c. and in the 2d vol. of the edit, of Shakspeare, in 
fifteen Volumes, in 1793.) A critic for such an ingenious 

G invention 

f V. Julium Capitolinum in Vita Clodii Albini ad Constamiuim 
Augustum* 



x 



f 98 I 

Asbolus (fc) Hawkins, a grim shaggy hound, 23^ 
In music growls, and beats the bushes round ; (a) 
Then Porson view Nebrophonos{b) the shrewd, (c) 
Yet foaming with th' Archdeacon's (d) critic blood; 

See 

invention should be presented with the ahum Sagana caliendrum^ 
which would not easily fall from his head. But Mr. Malone 
has redeemed this piece of felly by many valuable literary ex- 
cellencies, 

(z) Asbolus signifies a dog of a swarthy complexion. 

(a) Beats the bushes round. — Descriptive of Sir John 
Hawkins's History of Music ; in which however there is much 
original and valuable information, as in all his other works, so 
unjustly censured in my opinion. Sir John's principal huh 
was digression from his subject; but if you excuse that, you are 
well repaid by the information you receive. 

{&) Nebro/ihonos signifies a dog that slays the fawns and deer, 
and so in truth it is ; 

Archdeacons, rats, and such small deer, 
Have been Dick's food for many a year. 
And, as Lear says, " I'll take a word with this same learneb 
" Theban !" my learned Master Richard Porson: but he loves 
no titles! It would be better if he did. (1794,) 

{c) Mr. Malone says, the word shrewd means " acute, or 
c< intelligent ;" Mr. Steevens says, it is " bitter or severe." 
Shaks. ed. 1793, v0 ** v *' P* 43 c * Reader, you may chuse, or 
rather combine the terms. 

(d) The reader may be surprised to find any theological 
writings in this part; but Mr. Steevens's ingenuity has contrived 
to press Mr. Frofessor Porson's letters to Mr. Archdeacon Travis 

int© 



[ 99 ] 

See Dorceus (dd) Whiter o'er the learned soil, 
Brisk, though at fault, with new associates toil* 

In 

into the service of Shakspeare ; and by such ingenuity who or 
what may not be pressed into it ? This is quite a sufficient 
excuse for me, or rather a full justification of my allusion to 
them. See Tempest, vol. iii. p. 68. Steev. edit, 1793. Mr. 
Steevens stiles Mr. P. " an excellent scholar and a perspicacious 
** critic ;" in which I most cordially and most sincerely 
agree. But, if I am rightly informed, he thanks neither 
Mr. Steevens, nor me, nor Dr. Parr, nor Dr. Burney, nor 
any other Doctor or Mister in this country, for any opinion 
they may entertain or express of him or his works. He neither 
gives nor takes. 

I find the Archdeacon has re-published his work, and in my 
opinion has very wisely declined being led any more by Dick 
and the foul fiend " through fire, and through flame and whirl* 
" pool, o'er bog and quagmire, and having knives laid under 
" his pillow." But the Archdeacon has had the weakness to 
print his work on a wire-wove fta/ier and hot-firessed. Had I 
been the Archdeacon, I should have been contented with the 
hot/iressing by Mr. Porson, hot indeed, hissing hot! This con- 
troversy has no good end. Learning is good, and theology is 
good ; but there is something better, H Ayocnn, There is 
also a writer who says, Kcltoikoivx&tou eXsqs xf>i<rw;. (1794.) 

{dd) Dorceus, signifies, in my opinion, a dog of a sharp sight, 
apt to see what nobody else can in a large field. Some derive it 
from Aopa;, capra, quasi per saltum, which I reject. See Mr. 
Winter's Commentaries on Shakspeare, on a new principle, &e* 
published in 1794. 

This is certainly a very learned and sagacious dog. He 
is out of the actual chace; but might, with great propriety, 

C z joia 



f ioo ] 

In Tkeron's (e) form, mark Ritson next contend, 
Fierce, meagre, pale, no commentator's (/ } friend | 
Tom Warton last, Agriodos (£) acute, 
With Labros Percy {//) barks in close pursuit : 

Hot 

join the pack on a future day : or in plain words, when a 
new edition of Shakspeare is printed, there should be 2 
selection of notes from his book. His criticism on the 
second Eclogue of the Poems ascribed to Rowley, (truly or 
falsely,) in point of ingenuity and illustrative learning has never 
been surpassed. m Cuicuncrue veterum fortiter opposuerim^ 
(1796.) 

(e) Theron signifies a dog of innate ferocity." 

(f) Poor Tom Warton could have told a piteous tale, how his 
historic " body was punched full of deadly holes" by this literary 
Richard Hid. Dr. Percy could make a lamentation or two in 
some ancient ditty, in a fit or canto. Mr. Malone probably has 
felt a gripe rather strong. The antiquaries— but they have 
s/ioken for themselves. The Antiquarian Society is amiable and 
harmless, and from what I have seen, their publications 
resemble the subjects of them ; Nexiwv amenhna K&jyma,'* 
Who could wish to disturb such repose ? (1794.) 

(<§") -dgriodos signifies a dog with a sharp tooth. — I always 
regret the loss of Thomas Warton; in his various writings 
he is amusing, instructive, pleasant, learned, and poetical. 

I never received information so agreeably from any modern 
writer. His edition of Milton's Smaller Poems, (an exquisite 
specimen of classical commentary, aad worthy of his former 

observation* 



[ ioi ] 

Hot was the chace; I left it out of breathy 
I wish'd not to be mix Shakspeare's death. 250 

OCTAVIUS. 

observations on Spenser) leaves it a matter of unceasing regret, 
that he never published the Paradise Lost and Regained. The 
want of the last volume of the History of English Poetry, must 
for ever be lamented. I despair of any artist able to finish such 
a work, with so few imperfections, and with such various 
erudition. 

Tom Warton had rather a kindly affection for the jovial 
memory of Archdeacon Walter de Mapes of the 1 ith century, 
mentioned for his drinking ode in a former note. Mr.W. tells 
ns, (with a warm panegyric,) in his ad Dissert, to the Hist, of 
English Poetry that this divine Anacreon wrote also a Latin ode 
in favour of married priests, concluding with these spirited lines; 

Ecce pro Clericis multum allegavi ; 

Nee non pro Presbyteris multum comprobavi ; 

Pater noster pro me, qnoniam peccavi, 

Dicat quisque Presbyter cum sua Suavi ! 
I quote this for my own sake, quoniam peccavi, and am inclined 
to hope that every " Presbyter cum sua Suavi," will be as kind to 
the author of this poem on the Pursuits of Literature, 
Requiescat ! # 

(h) Labros signifies a dog that opens continually.— But I 
forget; "Si quisdixerit Episcotum aiiqua infirmitatelaborare, 
" anathema esto."* (1794.) 

Thus I take my leave of the whole blatbAztttt ken- 
nel, with all their wit, and all their follies, and all their 
merry humours; and they may both now and hereafter, 
unawed by their great Huntsman who is no more, and most 
probably unmolested by me, continue to bark and growl, and 

G 3 $nap* 

* Council of Constance. 



' [ 102 j 

(5CTAVIUS. 

Here yet awhile (/) these honest labours close, 
And leave indignant Genius to repose. 252 

snap, and quarrel, and teaze one another, till there remains not 
a critical offal for which they may contend. 

Et velut absent em certatim Action a ctament.* 
Finally, as to this celebrated edition of Shakspeare by George 
Steevens, Esq. and the whole blacMEtttC Kennell, I must 
pronounce it's great Eulogium, as it is beautifully conceived and 
expressed in the words of a master of the most finished Latinity 
of the Augustan age. *' Hie Liber est conglutinatus ex tam 
*' multis libris, quot unus pinguis CocusOves, boves, sues, grues, 
M anseres, passeres, coquere, aut unus fumosus Calefactor 
** centum magna hypocausta ex illis calefacere possit!!!" 
Epist. Obscurorum Virorum ! 

(/) " Haec sat erit, Divae, vestrum cecinisse Poetam." 
So said Virgil, J and so says my friend Octavius, to whose 
judgment I submit, and write this note in conclusion for the 
present, that I may offer and recommend to the consideration of 
all PoetSj Orators and Writers, sacred and profane, a sentence 
from Swift, which I could wish to see engraven in letters of 
gold, as sn everlasting admonition. It is this; " To say the 
" truth, no part of knowledge seems to be infeiver hands, than 
f* that of discerning when to have done." (1794.) 

.* Ovid. Met. Lib. 3. % Virg. Eel. 10. v, jo. 



THE END OF DIALOGUE THE FIRST, 



{ 103 1 



THE 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



DIALOGUE THE SECOND. 



Xeijoos - iXscr', Kvrocp GgXscov xveqvxoi spunv. 

Horn. II. 4. v. 540, 



VW-WJ !! ! ■'■»»■ 



£ *°5 ] 



THE PREFACE 

TO THE SECOND DIALOGUE^) 



OF TH 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE, 



Michelangelo Buonarotti, 
In persona della Notte Addormentata. (b) 

Grato mi e il sonno 9 e Jiiu Vesser di sasso > 
Mentre che il danno e la vergogna dura ; 
Non voder, non sentir, m'e gran <veniura ; 
JPerd non mi destar, ma Jiarla 6 as so. 



X WO years have passed since I published " The first 
" Part of the Pursuits of Literature." I now offer a 
continuation of it to the attention of those persons who 



may 



{a) First printed in May 1796. 
(h) Statua della Notte, scolpita da Michel Angelo, — V. Vite 
*3i Pittori, &c. di Vasari, part. 3. del vol. 2. p. 159. edit, 
Bologna, 1647, l 



may feel themselves interested in such researches ; the 
subjects of which are, zn their event, important to us 
all. What I observed of the First Part, I observe of this, 
and the following Parts, " that no imitation is intended of 
any former poem." That it will attract some attention in 
some places, I am confident ; but it will be idle to make any 
conjecture as to the author. He is, and will be, concealed 
upon motives very different from the apprehension of any 
private resentment. I dissuade every person from flippant 
and random application of any suppofed name ; it is as un- 
just as it is absurd. " Flebit et insignis tota cantabitur 
" urbe *," was said of old, but I do not say this ; though I 
recommend to every gentleman and lady of eminent sagacity 
and curiosity to remember, that there is a darkness which 
may be felt. 

As to the subject of Satire in general, I will add a few 
words, as they are not wholly unimportant, and as they 
explain my own ideas. All reprehension of vice, or of 
folly, or of any moral depravity, must cease at once, if it 
is required of the author of that reprehension, that he be 
blameless himself in the strict, or indeed in any, sense of 
that word. But if the enumeration of evils, wickedness, 
folly, extravagance, abuse of knowledge in theory or in 
practice, and a censure of such actions and of such opinions, 
be considered as the production of a mind bad, reprehen- 
sible, and unquiet in itself, I fear, that few philosophers are 
exempted from the charge. 

In my opinion, the Philosopher himself is a Satirist, 
speaking to the world at large, without a specific reference 

to 
* Hor. Lib. z, S. I. v. 45. 






[ *07 ] 

to any nation. The Satirist, (in the common acceptation 
of the word) is a writer in poetry or in prose, who 
addresses himself to a peculiar part of the world, and 
generally to his own countrymen, calling them to a 
view of their faults, follies, or vices, which are destructive 
of society, of government, of good manners, or of good 
literature. The philosophic Satirist effects his purpose 
by appealing to man and his nature ; the modern poet sup- 
posing and ackowledging the truth of these original prin- 
ciples, argues virtually from them, but directs his attention 
to existing persons, circumstances, opinions, and books, 
in his own times. He illustrates his doctrine by that 
forcible appeal, assisted by learning, wit, and ridicule; 
with an honest endeavour to uphold the common cause of 
wisdom, of truth, and of virtue ; without which criticism is 
malignity, and satire is scandal. 

Yet, however excellent, the work of any Satirist is 
transitory as to it's immediate subject. But as it is a view 
of life designed { a) to be presented to other times, as well 
as those in which it is written, the necessity of an author's 
furnishing Notes to his own composition (b) is evident, to 

clear 



(#) I refer the reader to Dean Swift's dedication to Prince 
Posterity. 

(£) " The notes I wish to he very large in what relates to the 
*' persons concerned : for I have long observed that, twenty 
" miles from London, nobody understands hints, initial letters, 
* 4 or town facts and passages, and in a few years not even those 
4< who live in London." Swift's Letter to Pope. July 16, 172^. 
Pope's Works, vol. 9. p. 117. Warbur ton's edition, 8vo. 
$1. B. Dr. Joseph Warton observes in his edition of Pope, 

vol. 



t 108 ] 

fclear up for himself such difficulties as the lapse of time* 
(and indeed of a very little time) would unavoidably create. 
This is a privilege and a liberty which was denied to the 
ancients, which Dryden rejected, and Pope partially 

adopted. \ 

After these few observations, (which I thought necessary, 
or I would not have written them) I offer this continuation 
of the poem to my readers, not without the spirit of a writer 
whohas endeavoured well. I will also, upon reflection, add the 
words of Milton ; " I do not look to be afked, wherejore 
* c I wrote this book ; it being no difficulty to answer, that I 
*' did it to those ends, which the best men propose to them- 
" selves when they write." 



vol. 4. p. 323. that, this observation of Swift " is a mortifying 
tl reflection to the writers of Satire, and daily topics of cen- 
*' sure." I have taken particular care in my poem to prevent 

fkis m&rtificatian. 



f 109 ] 



THE 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE, 



DIALOGUE THE SECOND. {*) 



AyziPycroos 

Lycophron. Cassandra, v.? 321, 



AUTHOR. 

XjlLL hail to Cestria, and her mitred lord ! {a) 
And may the Muse in lasting strains record 
That lawn'd Endymion of a happier age, 
Who, wild with rapture and empiric rage, 



On 



(*) First published in May, 1796. 
(a) John Wilkins, Bishop of Chester in the last century, 
wrote a celebrated " Discourse concerning the possibility of a 
c< passage to the moon." Upon my word, Philosophy is a very 
pleasant thing, and has various uses; one of the bsst is, it. 
.Ciakes us laugh sometimes, 



C m 1 

On bold aspiring pinion could presume 
To journey through the vast ethereal gloom;- 
Who tir'd of earth, and dreams of gowned rest, 
Sunk in the elysium of his Cynthia's breast ! 

But ah 1 for us those wizard wonders cease: 
In war, death, pestilence, or dang'rous peace, 2 id 
Condemn'd to groan in this disorder'd hour, 
Victors and victims of th' unhallow'd pow'r, 
That bids the western w r orld or rouse or weep, 
O'erwhelm'd beneath the formidable deep. 

OCTAVIUS. 

Of France (a) enough : go bend before that tomb, 
Where other palms and other laurels bloom, 

Where 

(a) I can mention no lines so expressive of the state of 
France, (1796) as the following adajited from Boileau. 

" Dechirans a 1'envi leur prop.re Republique, 
" Lions contre Lions, parens contre parens, 
" Combattent follement pour le choix des tyrans!"* 

To some persons the following sublime picture, as drawn by 

th* 
* Boileau, Sat, 8. v. 132? 



' C *« ] 

Where Maro sleeps ; or in the Sabine shade, 

Or in severe Aquinum's inmost glade, 

Fast by Volterra's dark Etrurian grove, 

With Boileau's (b) art,- and Dryden's rapture rove. 

Be wise betimes, and in resistless prose 221 

Leave Burke alone to thunder on our foes: 

Let 



the master hand of that mighty poet Lycophron, will have 
it's force, under the same allusion. 

K.cx>rociQzi youccv ogjcwwisAo?)? 

A.7rouroL 3s yjlcov Tr^ovfAyLocrwy <Wa/xsvy) 
K.SITUI, TrstyQixocv $', co(tts Xn'is yvai, 

Ev coat Trvqycov z% olxqojv iv$a,Wsrca 9 . . ,' jj 

n§0$ CtlQeQQ? Y.VQHGIX. V7JVS/X8S - l^«5", 

Yoco yuvxixwv, xcci wzruppayaus ttsttXcov, 
AXhm est' aX>.7i ay/xCpoga* £s&E<y//,sv«v.i" 



♦ (b) Boileau. — He was the most perfect of all modern writers 
in true taste and judgment. His sagacity was unerring; he 
combined every ancient excellence, and appears original even in 
the adoption of acknowledged thoughts and allusions. He is 
the just and adequate representative of Horace, Juvenal, and 
Persius united, without one indecent blemish ; and for my own 

part 
f Lycophron. Cassandra. v,24g. 



C «* 3 

Let Wakefield (c) rant* and pallid Thelwall bawl* " 
Lords of misrule, in anarchy's wild hall; 
Such prophets as ere long Home Tooke may save, 
And hide and feed by fifties (d) in a cave* 

You 

part I have always considered him as the most finished gentleman 
that ever wrote. I have spoken more at large of this poet in 
the Introductory Letter to the P. of L. 

(r) Wakefield. Whenever I think of the name of Gilhert 
Wakefield, and look at the list of his works, (for I would not 
undertake to read them all,) I feel alternate sorrow and 
indignation* His learning and sagacity are indeed sufficient to 
entitle him to some patronage, and to the removal of every want»{ 
But his spirit is so restless, his temper is so overbearing and 
tyrannical, (I speak from the consideration of his works alone,) his 
contempt for others is so great, and his personal vanity so 
conspicuous, that even Literature begins to be weary of him. 

But when I turn to his religious and political opinions, I find 
all the virulence and asperity of the reformer; all the insolence 
and even impudence of the assertors of equality ; a want of 
decent, or even of common respect to dignified characters; and a 
mind (naturally designed for better exertions, and cultivated in 
the groves of an university) hostile and implacable to every 
establishment, and with a strong tendency even to * sanguinary 

persecution*. 



* See (if it is worth while) Gilbert Wakefield's pamphlet 
entitled " Remarks on the General Orders given by the Duke of 
*' York to his army, July 7, 1794, respecting the decree of the 
*' French Convention^ to give no quarter to the British and 

f [ Hanoverians, 



t m i 

You read perchance a minister in books, (/) 

And know an honest statesman by his looks; 

Think in debates the spirit may be seen, 

In Thurlow just, in Wedderburne, serene; $a 

la 

persecution. . I. speak of him as a public man; I have no 
contempt of his attainments. But I will never suffer him, nor 
any ether man, who obtrudes himself and his political principles 
and measures upon the public, to pass me without notice; or as 
the poet strongly expresses it, 

Glomerare sub antrO 
Fumiferam noctem, commixtis igne ienebris, (a) 

without the reprehension he deserves. (1796.) 

(d) By fifties. * Obadiah took tlie firofilets, and hid them by 
u fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water." Kings, B. 1. 
ch. 18. v. 4. In the provisions of that most important, and I 

wish. 






u Hanoverians, 1794." I only mention this or any of Mr* Wake* 
field's writings for their spirit and tendency, as the compositions 
are worth little notice. I shall not at present wander through 
his " Silva Critica," " Ubi passim palantes Error recto de tramite 
** pellit." (/') His ravages on Virgil and Horace, iii his late 
editions of them, are often as shocking to taste as to truth. 
Bentley's hook (I beg pardon for coupling the names) \jas 
nothing to the levelling axe of Gilbert Wakefield. If Mr. Wake- 
field does not write with greater care and ability than he has 
hitherto shewn, neither men, nor gods, nor columns will permit 
his works to be extant very long. 

(«) Virg. Mk 8. v; 254. (b) Hor. L.a. Sat. 3, v. 48, 
H 



C "4 1 

In Grenville, firmness; majesty, in Pitt; 
And in Dundas, the courage to submit. 
Proud of your keen discernment you retire, 
Srnit with the fame of Rollo's bard (g) and squire, 
You print (poor man ! ) your satire and your song, 
Correct as Gilford, or as Cowper, strong. 

AUTHOR. 

Yes: to my country's justice I appeal, 
Nor dread the press, the guillotine, nor wheel? 

Nor 

wish I could say, perpetual act, (passed in 1795) for preventing 
seditious assemblies, &c. &c. &c. it is specified, that none of 
these prophets, or lecturers, or diviners in democracy, shall 
meet iu greater numbers than by fifty in a cave, or elsewhere; 
and considering the inflammatory nature of their disorders, it 
is devoutly to be wished, that they may be kept upon the same 
cooling diet. (1796.) 

(/*) I allude to the profound knowledge which busy meu 
acquire of the most secret designs of the British, or even of foreign 

cabinets, from the news-papers. Nothing is so pleasant as to 

hear men assert without the least hesitation what they how of 
the intention of Ministers. I really envy the satisfaction they 
feel; when they communicate their discoveries to such unen- 
lightened and ignorant men as myself. 



C "5 3 

Nor fulsome praise, nor coldness of neglect, 
Nor all that poets meet, but scarce expect : 40 
Yet though the question I shall never fear, 
A rhyming culprit's bold confession hear. 

Memory I have, not Middleton (/) has more; . 
Plays I could frame, like Ireland, (k) by the score} 
Could sing of gardens, yet well pleas'd to see 
Walpole (/) and Nature may, for once, agree ; 
Could give with Darwin, to the hectic kind, 
Receipts in verse to shift the north-east wind (m) ; 

With 

(g) Dr. Lawrence ; Author or Editor of the Rolliad, Proba- 
tionary Odes, &c. 

(/) The famous witness on Mr. Hastings's trial, the disciple 
of Themistocles. 

(£) The publisher of the newly-found manuscripts in Shak* 
speare's own hand-writing. The reader will find more on this 
subject in the course of this Second Dialogue. 

(/) Read (it well deserves the attention) that quaint, but 
most curious and learned, writer's excellent Essay on Modern 
Gardening, at the end of his Lives of the Painters. 

(») See Dr. Darwin's Loves of the Plants, and a long and 
pleasant note, in which the Doctor thinks it very feasible to 

M z manage 



[ i*6 I 

With Price (ti) and Knight grounds by. neglect improve^ 
And banish use, for naked Nature's love., 
Lakes, forests, rivers, in one landscape drawn, 
My park, a county, and a heath, my lawn; . 
With Knight, man's civil progress (o) could rehearse? 
But Hume, or Smith, or Tacitus inverse, 

! And, 

manage the winds, (and every thing else I believe) at his plea- 
sure, by a little philosophy. I never read any thing so com- 
fortable in my life. Martinus Scriblerus will be, after all, a 
legitimate natural philosopher. It appears to me, that Dr. 
Darwin's ingenious understanding is peculiarly adapted to solva 
the- following problem in natural philosophy: u Whether, 
" the hybernal frigidity of the Antipodes, passing in an ortho- 
" gonal line through the homogeneous solidity of the center, 
*' might warm the superficial connexity of our heels by a soft 
" antiperistasis?" I have given a translation of this great and 
useful. problem, (as the French Philosopher Pantagruel is. not 
quite so intelligible in the original,) that Dr. Darwin may discuss 
it at large in the next edition of his Zoonomia, which is much 
to be desired. I refer the reader to. the " Creme Philosophic] ue 
" des Questions Encyclopediques," at- the end of Rabelais. 
Book 5. The true, cream of their modern Encyclopedic is to be 
found in the French Revolution, 1789, &c. 

(«) Price and Knight. — See the various treatises, all curious 
and in some degree pleasant, on the subject of landscape, and 
the art of laying out grounds, knight and Price, versus Mason 
and Brown, Repton, Moderator. . I have no doubt of the 
decision at the bar of taste; but \ certainly would not bring the 

cause 



[ "7 3 

And, while Silenus and his votaries nod, 
Quart Paphian grossness from my chrystal (//) God. 

Or 



cause in the court at Guildhall. With the giants on the jury, and 
Lord Kenyon for the judge, there certainly would be a verdict 
for the Brobdignag Gardeners, Knight and Price. (1796.) 

(0) See and read (if possible) what Mr, R. f. Knight calls 
a Didactic Poem, " The Progress of Civil Society, in six 
* i books, 4to." I protest I speak impartially, when I assort that 
Mr. Knight seems to have no other idea of poetry, than that of 
lines and syllables put into a measure with, now and then, some 
Jittle attention to grammar; I mean, when he writes verses 
himself. For if he conceives, that the versification of Montes* 
quieu's Spirit of Laws, Tacitus on the Germans, Smith on the 
Wealth of Nations, Robertson's Introduction to his History 
of Charles V. Stuart on the View of Society in Europe, and 
such works, is /ioetry y there is no help for him, he must be suf- 
fered to rhyme on. " Dogmatizeren vers,et rimer par chapitres."(«) 

It is'impossible to criticize or examine the whole in a note, 
but I will give a specimen of such observations as 1 should make, 
if I were to go through the whole of this tedious piece of work. 
Mr. K. is very fond of beginning all his books with doubt , like 
a true philosopher \ he always uses the words " Whether this, 
*' or whether that — or whether the other," — is the case; never 
deciding the point, nor giving even a doubtful solution Of 
doubtful doubts, as Mr. Hume kindly used to do. But %vhether 
Mr, K. understands himself, even in the very beginning of his 
poem, may be a doubt; but whether his readers understand 

H 3 , him A 

(a) Boileau, Sat. 8, v. 1269 



C "8 ] 

Or I could scribble (q) for historic fame, 

Like Gillies, feeble, formal, dull, and tame) (qq) 

Then 



him, is no doubt at all. He begins thus ; Book the first ; Verse 
tfye first. (I take the verses at the very beginning, to shew my 
impartiality.) 

*' Whether primordial motion sftrang to life 

From the wild war of elemental strife. 

In central chains the mass inert confined) 

And sublimated matter into mind ; 

Or whether one great, all pervading soul, &c. 

Or— 

Whether, in Fate's eternal fetters hound 
Mechanic Nature^/ her endless round, &c. &c. 

In all this mist and darkness which he flings around him, I am 
certain that it is impossible for Mr. Knight to look through this 
preparation of the poetical sky for the metaphysical deluge 
which ensues, when he is to 

" Trace out the slender social links that bind 

^ In order's chain, the chaos of mankind, &c. &c." 

Ohejam satis— But then I am told there are so many pretty and 
intelligible passages (I grant it, Horum simplicitas miserabilis !) 
in this and t'other poem (I must mean the Landscape j) and the 
ladies say it is so charming to wish to be buried under an oak, 
and so romantic. See p. 153. I wish from my soul that all 
the democracy .and infidelity in the kingdom were buried under 
the great guardian oak of England, and the spirit of Mr. Knight 
confined in the stem of it. He might cry out as lustily as Poiy- 
dorus, and all the conjurers of the Dilettanti might 'assist at 
fbe dismchantment if they pleased, 

N.B. Iain 



E "9 ] 

Then tir'd of truth, like Coxe, to fable stray, 
And vie with Croxall in my notes on Gay. (r) 60 

I could 

I am infinitely indebted to Mr. Richard Payne Knight 
for the honour he has been pleased to confer on my note in the 
First Dialogue of this Poem on the Pursuits of Literature; see 
p. 17, &c. of ///^-Preface to his Progress of Civil Society. 

" If Mf. Knight's bed be a bed of tortures, he has made it for 
** himself." (a) I did not name him, as the author of the 
Essay on the Worship of Priapus, but he has now named 
himself. I am glad however that he has some sense of shame 
Jeft, by endeavouring to explain away one of the most unbe* 
coming and indecent treatises which ever disgraced the pen of a 
man Who would be thought a scholar and a philosopher; and I 
persevere in that opinion, and could be tempted to copy even 
my former note, (b) Mr. K. had better have kept to his Piincifiia f 
A, B, T, A, xrX. See his Greek alphabet, I hope he will 
do better in future, and spare me more trouble ; for I am as 
tired of him as he can be of me. 

As Mr. Knight is a Member of Parliament, I must fairly tell 

him, that if he is appointed Chairman of any polite poetical 

Committee, and any more " re/iorts Progress, and asks leave 

**' to sit again," the motion will be negatived by the ivhole house, 

(1796.) 

{/i) " Vitreo bibit ille Priapo." Juv. Sat. 2. v. 95. See 
Mr. Knight's Essay on the Worship of Priapus, and my note on 
it in the First Dialogue of this Poem. 

(a) I quote Junius in English, as I would Tacitus or Livy 
in Latin. I consider him as a legitimate English classic, 

(b) See the First Dialogue of the P. of L. — I have been told 
that Five Guineas is the price of The Essay on Priapus, if a 
copy is at any time to be sold 1 

H 4 



[ "o 1 
X could; like Seward, if for scraps you call, 
Turn public bagman, (s) train'd in Walpole's stall | 

Or 

(q) Soon after Mr. Gibbon had published the second and third 
volumes of his Roman History, the late Duke of Cumberland 
accidentally met him, and intending to pay him a great compli r 
ment, said; u Hovy do you do, Mr. Gibbon ? 1 see you are 
44 always at ff t the old way, scribble, scribble, scribble." — There 
are various judges of historical writing, from Quintilian to the 
iateDukt of Cumberland. 

Dr. Gillies wrote the History of Greece, &c. in a manner 
quite different from Mr. Gibbon,; but, according to Pliny's 
good-humoured observation; " Historia quoquo modo scripta 
*'• delectat." (1796.) 

~(qq) The epithets in the verse are designed to characterize the 
writings of Dr. Gillies. There is some learning, great diligence, 
attention, and application ; but no marks of genius or of strength 
in his compositions. Sed tamen in pretio. And I wish them 
to be so ? as the Doctor is a man of good intentions, a passable 
scholar, an indefatigable reader, and of most respectable cha- 
racter. I speak of nothing but his writings. (1796.) 

\r) Fables by John Gay, illustrated with notes by Williams' 
Coxe, M. A. F.R.S. F.S.A. Rector of Bemerton,' Prebendary 
of Sarum, Domestic Chaplain to the Lord Bithop of Salisbury, 
late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, Member of the 
Imperial CEcOnomical Society of St. Petersburg, and of the 
Royal Society of Sciences at Copenhagen, Chaplain to H. G. 
the Duke of Marlborough; &c. &c. &c. ! ! ! (1796.'} What 
will Mr. Coxe write next? To be sure Addison did gravely 
comment on Chevy Chace. lam not inclined to make any 
other comparison. (1796.) 

(j) S£e (for they are very entertaining, but very dear) Mr. 
Seward's Anecdotes of distinguished Persons, _&c. in four 

volumes. 



£ i« J 

Or to Cythseron, from the Treasury, move, 

And, like Sir James Bland Burgess, {/) murmur love; 

Or with Fitzpatrick, mark the space between 

A tainted strumpet and a spotless Queen; (//) 

Could 

volumes. I prefer Mr. Seward to every compiler of anecdotes, 
.except the Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole, now Lord Or(ord. A 
'visiting library is very convenient and pleasant to one's friends. 
{1796.)— -I hope Mr. S. may hereafter present the public with 
similar works, but in single volumes. 

(t) I allude to Sir James Bland Burgess's Poem, entitled, 
*' The Birth and Triumph of Lovel" accompanied by the 
prettiest little designs of the Amoretti .alati by one of the fairest* 
most ingenious, and most illustrious hands {a) in the kingdom. 
Sir James, late Under Secretary of State, is very properly, (as 
all Under Secretaries of State, or Chief Secretaries in the Trea- 
sury, should be,) attentive to his character, and is particularly 
afraid of the smallest Cupid 'without a muzzle. Sir James says, 
H That boy and that boy's deeds shall not pollute my measure/*' 
St. 1. Now when I consider what Virgil and Tasso have sai$ 
and sung of " that boy and that boy's deeds," it is a little prudish 
in Sir James Bland Burgess, Baronet and Poet, on such a subject 
to have such fears. A poet may be a little playful. But Sir 
James Bland Burgess is right after all; there certainly should be 
none but the most virtuous persons about Secretaries of State, 
and in the precincts of the Treasury, though now and then a 
straggler of another description will be found, notwithstanding 
the unremitted diligence and undiverted attention of George 
Rose, Esq. (1796.) 

{it) A line taken from the Political Eclogue, intitled " The 
? s Lyars-" the most finished of all the productions of the Authors 

of 

(a) H, R. H, the Princess Elizabeth. . 



I I22 1 

Could furnish feasts for each Parnassian prig, 

A Florence goose, three ducklings, and one {v) pig ; 

With Spartan Pye (x) lull England to repose, 

Or 

©f the Rolliad. Public report has assigned this classical but too 
free composition to the keen, sarcastic pen of General Fitz- 
patrick. " Such is the Bard whose distich some commend," &c. 
I may be mistaken as to the Author, but I have selected this 
eclogue to reprobate the licentious spirit which pervades the 
whole of it. The Art of Political Lying indeed was not invented 
by Lord North, Mr. Fox, Mr. Pitt, General Fitzpatrick, or 
any modern Statesman. It is an ancient and approved art by 
John Bull. 

(<u) A Florence goose, &c— See a publication, entitled, " An 
«< Ode to an Eton Boy, Three Sonnets, and One Epigram:" by 
"William Parsons, Esq. This gentleman is the fairest of all 
Mr. Gray's Critics: he even allows the superiority of his 
genius, and gives his own verses in Mr. Gray's measure. The 
obliquity of the principles and of the understanding is sometimes 
unaccountable. 

(x) Spartan Pye. — Mr. Pye, the present poet Laureat, with 
the best intentions at this momentous period, if not with the 
very best poetry, translated the verses of Tyrtaeus the Spartan. 
They were designed to produce animation throughout the king- 
dom, and among the Militia in particular. Several of the 
Reviewing Generals (I do not mean the Monthly or Critical) 
were much impressed with their weight and importance, and at 
a board of General Officers, an experiment was agreed upon, 
which unfortunately failed. They were read aloud at Warley 
Common, and at Barham Downs by the Adjutants, at the head 
of five different regiments, at each camp, and much was 

expected 



C I2 3 ] w 
Or frighten children with Lenora's (y) woes : jo 
I could — 

OCTAVIUS. 

Do what?- — where will your vaunting reach? 
Is this a prelude to your parting speech ? 

AUTHOR. 

expected. But before they were half finished, all the front 
ranks, and as many of the others as were within hearing or 
verse shot, dropped their arms suddenly, and were all found fast 
asleep\ Marquis Townshend, who never approved of the 
scheme, said with his usual pleasantry, that the first of all poets 
observed, " that Sleep is the brother of Death." (1796.) 

Certain kinds of poetry and writing (to which I have been 
too much accustomed) may be added to the number of the 
Tttv8 Aycoyoc, or Soporifics, which great medical writers affirm 
to be, accustomed noises, motions, &c. &c. in short the %uci rx 
fywQsK. The acute physician Aret^-us thus speaks ; — T^va 
ocycoya, uiroc<ri tec ^vvm^oc. Notvrixco [xsv yj sv olvlcctw ytocTOM\im$ 9 
xtxi sv QocXocogv) Tt&pityoptx, Tioii aiy ia.\at\ ifiypq , xat KV^ocroov y.rwnos t 
av£//.wv tc Co/xCos- — xT\.(a) The whole passage is uncommonly 
eloquent and sensible ; and my medical readers will thank me for 
pointing it out. Aretaeus, is perhaps, the first descriptive painter 
in his art. Such accomplished scholars as the venerable Dr. 
Heberden, Dr. Glynn, Sir George Baker, Dr. Turton, Dr. 
Milman, Dr. Littlehales, Dr. Vivian, and a few others, 
(JjiolliiM nomina digna cboro) will confirm my opinion. 

* , . •■ .... . ■ , r 

if) Aretsei De Morbis Acutis. cap. 1. p. 75. editt Boerhaave, 



C 124 ] 

AUTHOR. 

Sparc, spare; till time subdues my hapless rage 
With blast autumnal, or the damp of age. 
What poet will refuse to drink ? or sing, 
Since Helicon is now an Irish spring? 
All thirst alike; which made Sam Johnson think, 
That no man visits, where he cannot drink, (yy) 
Why should I faint, when all with patience hear, 
And Laureat Pye sings more than twice a year? (yyy) 

OCTAVIUS. 

($ A tale from the German, translated by the Laureat, 
B. J. Pye, Esq. by J. T. Stanly, Esq. M. P. &c. &c. &c. &c 
a sort of Blue Beard story for the nursery. I am ashamed to 
think that the public curiosity (I will not say, taste) should 
have been occupied with such Diablerie Tudesque. (1796.) 

I sJiould however be unwilling not to do justice tothe elegant an# 
fascinating pencil of Lady Di. Beauclerc who has honoured and 
.decorated the subject ; but the painter and the musician are often 
employed in illustrating silly subjects, and silly words. Still it 
•will be most true, mutatis mutandis, of both these divine arts ; 

II cantar, che nelF anima si sente ! 

11 piu m sente V alma, il men Poreechia. ( 1796.) 

(yy) Dr. Johnson's character of the Irish hospitality, in one 
t)f his letters, or among the Boswelliana, I forget which. It is not 
wholly inapplicable to some of our o>vn countrymen.— " Fqw 
voung men visit, where they cajwsot drink." It is a pity. 



OCTAVIUS. 

Truce with the Laureat. 

AUTHOR. 

*Tis but what I think • 
For once I hop'd to see the title sink, &z 

While piety and virtue grac'd the throne, 
And genius in lamented War ton shone : 
Aye, while Britannia cries from shore to shore, 
Augustus reigns ; Mj&cenas is no more! 

Pitt views alike, frorfi Holwood's sullen brow, 
(As near-observing (z) friendship dares avow) . 

The 

{yyy) " They scarce <ran bear their Laureat twice ayear** So 
said Pope. In these times we can bear our harmless fluttering 
birth day odes, better than the French Dithyiambics in the 
orgies of democracy. — Mr. Pve is a man of learning, and scone 
little fancy; but I wish his poetry had more force. 

(z) I must own, that unless the Province of encouraging 
Letters, which should belong to the great, is administered with 
wisdom and discretion, it is more desirable that there were ng 
encouragement n\ all. 

Xa 



t "6 3 

The fount of Pindus or Bceotia's bog, 

With 

In confirmation however of my opinion of the Minister, I 
refer the reader to a pamphlet published in 1795, entitled, 
4C Friendly Remarks on Mr. Pitt's Administration, by a Near 
" Observer." It is written by a good scholar, a man of fortune* 
of an upright mind, of an independent spirit, and the principles 
of a gentleman. It has been ascribed to M. Montagu, Esq. 
late M. P. and it is, I believe, acknowledged by him. He 
boldly tells the Minister of his fault, namely an improvident 
and systematic contempt and neglect of all ability and literary talent 'u 
* s They had no poet, and they died." 

I would by no means apply to Mr. Pitt what Spenser said of 
the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, once the Chancellor of the 
University of Cambridge, because it would neither be true, nor 

just; 

Oh let not Him, of whom the Muse is scorn d, 
Alive, nor dead, be of the Muse adorn'd! (a) 

But the Muse of satire may, with more respect and delicacy, 
win an easier way to the region of his sensibility, in the words of 
a Roman poet; 

Felix curarum! tiei non Helicon! a cordi 
Serta, nee imbelles Pamassi e <vertke lauruj 5 
Sed viget ingenium, et magnos accinctus in usus, 
Fert animus quascunque vices ! 

These are the virtues of a minister in times of change, and of 
general convulsion. 

History indeed may say of Mr. Pitt in the words of Tacitus, 

*' Inlgenivm illustre altioribus studiis jnvenis admodum 

. ** dedilt 
(a) Spenser's t( Ruins of Time." 



r * 2 7 i 

With nothing of Maecenas, but his frog, (a) 90 

OCT A VI US. 

Mere spleen {b)x Pitt sure is liberal, though by stealth. 

AUTHOR. 



" dedit ; non, ut plerique, ut nomine magnifico segne otium 
" velaret, sedtjuojirmiorad<versusfortuita i Rempuelicam capes- 
u seret."(£) I might proceed and describe him as "Opum {c} 
u contemptor, recti pervicax, constans adversus metus;" but I 
cannot pursue him through the integral character of Helvidius 
Priscus, because I conceive Power, and not Fame, to be the 
principle of this mighty Minister of Great Britain. 

(a) In the time of Augustus, during the administration of 
Maecenas, that Minister's seal, bearing the figure of a frog, 
was annexed to all money-bills. I mention this anecdote as 
curious, and perhaps not generally known. It is recorded in. 
Pliny's Natural History, Book 37. ch. 1. u Moecenatis Rana^ 
'* ob collationem pecuniar urn, in magno terrore erat." I also refer 
the reader to the Duke of Marlborough's Gems, vol. a. engraved 

privately. 

» ■nmn'<u < Min 1 ■ . '■■ ■ '■ '»■ - ■■■' -i m . ... . » »«« 

(b) Hist. 4. Sect. 5. 

(0 Though Mr. P. demises money, yet I wish he would give 
more attention to public aconomy than he has hitherto done. He is 
deserving of much censure in this respect. He seems to have 
forgotten what Mr. Burke once thundered in the ears of one of 
his predecessors, (Lord North) in the H.of C. ™' magnum nt 
« V ectig al Parsimtnia" (1797.) 






t 1*8 3 



AUTHOR. 

Yes, and he spares a nation's inborn wealth ; 

Another 



privately, and to the elegant Latin descriptions of them by the 
Rev. Dr. Cole, late Fellow of Kin&'s College in Cambridge. 

Nothing is so like as one Minister to another in this respect ; 
but it is difficult to refrain from remarking, that Frogs were one 
of the plagues of Egypt. 

(J>) Oc'tavius is wrong. I am neither a personal nor a politic 
cai enemy to Mr, Pitt. 

I think Mr. Pitt a powerful and efficient Minister, emi- 
nently adorned with natural gifts and endowments, and solemnly 
marked out and elected to his great office. He has talents to 
conduct, to persuade, and to command. He is a scholar ; 1 know 
Him to be such, and a ripe and good one. The low passion of 
avarice has no root in his mind,- but the sin, by which the 
angels fell, rages in him without measure and without control. 
To tell a Minister, that pride was not made/cr Him or for any 
man, because he has nothing which he has not received, would 
be to argue a gross ignorance of our fallen nature. Ke has rid 
servility in him. Firm, constant, and unbending, he has the 
principles of a man, who knows and feels what is demanded of 
him by his country. He comes into the House of Commons, 
not to bow, but to do the business of the state, and he does it. 
There is not a subject presented to him, even casually, in which 
his ability js not conspicuous. He treats it as if it had been the 

subje?:; 



[ "9 ] 

Another Adam (c) in ceconomy, 



For 



subject of his continued (a) meditation. In the conduct of the 
French ivar, he, his colleagues, and his allies have been all found 
■wanting; but in the principle just, if not steady. 

I will add, that in respect to personal individual gratification, 
I regard Mr. Pitt as the most fortunate man upon record. 
Called by the circumstances of the times beyond human control, 
and by events not in the wildest range of expectation, he was 
placed, almost without his seeking it, in the highest public 
station. He passed at once to the innermost of the temple, 
without treading the vestibule. In the bloom and vigour of his 
faculties, (for he bore the blossom and the fruit at once) and in 
the prime of life, when every thing can charm, that which can 
charm the most, Power, was voluntarily offered to him, 
confirmed, continued, and established by his King and by his 
country. His faults, his follies, and his blemishes, (for he has 
all) might be easily removed, but I think he will not remove them. 
He felt at once, as many men have done before him, the highest 
ability in himself; and he found, what is denied to most men of 
genius, a full and adequate exertion of it in high office. 

My hope and earnest prayer is, that the termination of his 
political labours, and the result of this just and tremendous war 
with the Republic of France, may be finally to establish 
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace." 

Is this the language of an enemy ? I respecr, nay, I would de- 
fend him : I wish him a long continuance in office: but I never can 
entertain a personal regard or affection for Mr. Pitt. (1796.) 



(a) In this respect Mr. Pitt always reminded me of Themistocles, 
as recorded by the great historian. « Otsioc %ws<rs h (punas 

ftosv ovva[j,=i t fAz\zrr,s £s GpccftuTTtrt, xpxTivros &?] uras 
" civTQo-yrfhxtyw rn feovrx*" Thucyd. Lib. i. Sect. 138. 



[ *3° ] 

For all, but Burke, {d) escape his searching eye. 
Stiff from old Turgor., (e) and his rigid school, 
He never deviates from this wholesome rule; 

" Left 

(c) Adam Smith, the great writer on wealth and finance, 
from whom Mr. Pitt learned his art. 

(</) This is not mentioned as a censure on Mr. Pitt for his 
liberality, for I think the whole of his pension merited by 
Mr. Burke, though I wish it had never been accepted. 

On this subject, I may say, that in " Mr. Burke's Letter on 
the " Duke of Bedford's Attack on Him in the House of Lords," 
I perceive genius, ability, dignity, imagination, and sights more 
than youthful poets sver dreamed, and sometimes the philosophy 
of Plato, and the wit of Lucian. But what I esteem most of 
all, I hear again the 'warning voice of one nuho sa<w the apocalypse^ 
and first cried aloud in England, and to all the inhabitants of 
Europe. 

I cannot describe the whole composition better than in the 
words of that Poet, who would have been proud to record 
the workmanship of Edmund Burke. Brontes, Steropes, and 
Pyracmon, it will be allowed, have all had their share in the 
fabrication of this informatumfuimen, 

" Tres imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquosse 

" Addiderant, rutili tres ignis et alitis austri ; 

«' Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque metumque 

" Miscebant operi, flammisque sequacibus iras." {a) (1796.) 

(e) Mr. Turgot, ci dei-ant Controller General of French 
Finance: the founder of the modern Occonomic School, 

Modern State Oeconomy often seems to consist in spending or 
squandering the greatest possible sums in the least possible time, 

(a) Virg. JEn, 8. v',429. 



[ M* 3 

" Left to themselves all find their level price, 
*' Potatoes, verses, turnips, greek, and rice," 



OCTAVIUS. 

Strange times indeed to banter on finance $ 
Pray, if you call him frugal, think of France; 100 

AUTHOR. 

Well, Til be brief; with France he must contend $ 
There I will own, and feel myself his friend, 
And sing with Burke's or Maro's borrow'd fire, 
* c Arms and the man," till anarchy (/) expire. 

Sedition's 

(f) In the just and inevitable, but most fatal and most tre- 
ftiendous war in which we are engaged, and in which all Europe 
has bled, and yet bleeds in every vein and artery, the first object 
we look for is, a stability of peace. But no stability can as yet 
be found in all the convulsive labours of the sanguinary nation. 
That modern Gallic Julia has done nothing but conceive one 
mis-shapen lump after another, in the fceculejicy of her political 

la wornbj 



[ i3* 1 

Sedition's crew is bound; the gloomy band 
Jn chains of penal silence musing stand, 
Or doom'd in classic (g) impotence to rave 
Their ceaseless round, within the smouldring cave ? 

The 

womb ; conception upon conception, abortion upon abortion ; 
and what can we say, 

u Cum tot abortivis fsecundam Julia vulvam 

*' Solveret, et patruo similes effunderet offas." (a) 

We must, I fear, yet wait a season ; (May 1796) and whatever 
we have paid, or must still pay, must be considered as the 
avTiXvrpov, the great price of delivery and redemption from 
slavery, revolution, French anarchy, and the disruption of social 
order; when the earth is bursting asunder, and hell yawning 
from beneath; or in language, which Edmund Burke alone 
could reproduce in English, 

Ava-pfwyvviAswis sx £ct9poJV yyjs - , avra rs y^/z-vsptevs Tapraps; 
And what wonder ? It is Longinus who speaks of Homer. (6) 
(1796.) 

(g) Since the passing of the Bills (in 1795) against treason, 
seditious meetings, assemblies, lectures, harangues, &q, John 
Thelwali read during the Lent season, 1796, what he termed 
Classical Lectures; and most kindly and affectionately pointed 
out the defects of all the ancient governments of Greece, Rome, 

Old 

(a) Juv. Sat. 2. v, 32. 
ijb) Lorig> de Subl. Sect. 9, 



[ *33 I 

The dark Vulcanian chamber, whence they strove 
To forge and hurl the bolts of Stygian Jove. no 

G C T A V I U S. 

Nay, if you thus proceed, I'll read the bill, 
In Hatsell's (^)clerkly tone, clear, loud, and shrill, 

And 

Old Franca, &c. &c. and the causes of rebellion, insurrection, 
regeneration of governments, terrorism, massacres, and revolu- 
tionary murder ; without the hast hint or application to England 
and iis constitution. Shewing how the Gracchi were great men, 
and so by implication, the Bedfords, the Lauderdaies, &c. I 
must own, I fear ncth ; ng from such lectures. (1796.) 

(h) John Hatsell, Esq. the very learned, polite, and respectable 
Clerk of the House of Commons. 1796. This accomplished 
gentleman has lately resigned his office, with that propriety and 
discernment of time, and circumstance, and of the '* aetatis insi- 
" diae," whi h have uniformly distinguished his very useful and 
honourable life in public office. £>uando ullum in-venient parent! 

The illustrious Speaker of the H. of C. the Rt. Hon, 
HiiNRY Addington, (neither interior nor second to at.y 
statesman in that House in temperate eloquence, accuracy of 
knowledge, and soundness of understanding-,) announced Mr. 
Hatsell's intended resignation in a manner which did honour to 
the sincerity of his friendship, and to his sense of the loss of so 
able a servant of the public. The House was unanimous in 
their applause. Mr. Pitt seconded the Speaker, and Denounced 

J 3 also 



[ 134 ] 

And JekyH's(/) comment too. 

AUTHOR. 

Pra}', heav'n forbear : 
Come then, I'll breathe at large ethereal air, 

Far 

also his testimony, But it is sufficient to say, Mr. Pitt spoke, 
when that Rt. Hon. Minister thinks proper to assume the 
language of commendation. 

Mr. Hatsell has given a most judicious work (b) to the public, 
which ail senators will do well to consult frequently. Mr. H. 
will excuse me for adapting to him in this respect a few words 
from Quinilian. u Monumenta rerum posteris quserentibus 
f tradidit. Frequentabunt ejus domum optimi juvenes, et veram 
*' viam, velu: ex oraculo, petent. Hos ille formabit ut vetus 
u gubernator, litrora et ponus, er quid secundis flatibus, quid 
84 adversis, raris poscat, docebit, et communi cuctus officio et 
£' amore quodam operis." Quintil. Lib. iz. c.xi. s. i. 

Mr. Hatsell will not suspect the hand which has paid this 
tribute to his character and his merits, (August I79 7 

(?) There is rather too much of pertness and se*f sufficiency in 

Mr. Joseph Jekvll's remarks; and I do not apprehend that his 

witticisms will ever shake a minister like the Rt. Hon. William 

Pitt. 

Magno discrimine Causam 

Protegere affectas? te consule, die tibi, quis sis, 

Orator vehemens, an Curtius, an Pviatho ; buccae 

Noscenda est mensura tus. 

Juv. Sat. xi. v. 32. 

(b) Precedents of Proceedings in the H. of C. with observation's 
4 volumes 4to 






[ i3S ] 

Far from the bar, the senate, and the court, 
And in Avonian fields with Steevens sport, 
(Whom late, from Hampstead journeying (k)to his 
Aurora oft for Cephalus (/) mistook, [book, 

What time he brush'd her dews with hasty pace, 
To meet (m) the Printer's dev'let face to face :) 120 
With dogs (ftj&Iatit letter'O in the Stratford Course, 
Mouth-match'd like bells, yet of unequal force, (jin) 

For 

{k) He used to leave his Tuseulum, the seat of Steevens and 
of wisdom, at Hampstead, between four and five o'clock every 
morning, to revise the proof sheets of the last edition of Shak- 
speare, 1793, m *5 v °l« 8vo. at his friend Reed's chambers.. 
I heard of nothing else at the time. (1796.) 

(/) " Hunc ne pro Cephalo raperes, Aurora, timebam." 

Sappho to Phaon, 

I will own, I was always apprehensive for the safety and classic 
purity of ths Attic boy, so very soon in the morning, on Primrose 
hill, " earth's freshest softest lap ;" but notwithstanding these 
early freaks, the youth is still safe, as I hear. (1796.) 

(/») " To meet — the Sun upon the upland lawn, 1 * 

Gray's Elegy 
(») See the First Dialogue of the Pursuits of Literature. 

{nn) ll My love shall hear the music of my hounds, 

" And gallant chiding; match'd in mouth like bells, 
«_' Each under each." &c. 

Midsummer Night's Preaav 
I 4 



[ *# ] 

For well I mark'd them all (0) with curious heed. 

OCTAVIUS. 

(<?) I termed the commentators on Shakspeare out of mere 
pleasantry, '* black-letter dogs." 

But if among these scholars, or in any Other description of 
the learned, there should be found a man, who, with the 
grace of exterior accomplishment, or the fulsome semblance 
of it; with the gifts of fortune, and the rank of a gentleman; 
with a strong devotion to literature without remission, and 
almost without example ; with acuteness of mind and extensive 
classical erudition; who, I say, should so far forget himself, 
as to practise arts which would disgrace the meanest retainer 
to learning :—#* such a man should be found, with fair 
professions and obliging attentions, simular of friendship, but 
at the bottom false, hollow, designing, and malicious; who 
jealous of every little advancement or lucky discovery, e-ven of a 
professional artist^ should strive to depress the efforts of struggling 
laborious merit, or to blast the rival ingenuity of his learned 
contemporaries; who should inflict a wound with more than 
Parthian dexterity, and yet be studious of frequenting the 
company of men of character to countenance his own ; and 
finally, who should collect and scatter around him the virus luyare % 
the vaporous drops that hang in any region of infection, that the 
objects of their influence might feel the blast of the enchanter, 
and know not whence it came ; — If I say, such a man should 
be found, I shall not name him, and it is not for him to lay bare 
his own conscience by a foolish, appropriating indiscretion* 

I have only sketched out at present such a character in prose ; and 
all I shall say further is, may He, (/"such a man exist, strive to 
wipe out such actions by more than literary contrition ; and 
deeply feel and know that he has lived, throughout the coarse of 
a life not inconsiderable in its duration, under a fatal error, and a 
^retched abuse of time, learning, talents, and accomplishments, 

This 






C '37 1 



OCTAVIUS, 

Not all : you pass'd the grave laborious (Ji) Reed, 
Friend to most traders in researches quaint. 
Layman or priest, the sinner or the saint ; 
Farmer he loves, and Steevens will receive : 
Though not Mie {fip) Mast err e[q)lxdd.n& by your leave. 

He 

This character is left ok record, like any of La Bruyere's # 
without e<ven the shadciu of a name. It shall ever remain unappro- 
priated by me, (1796.) 

If any person should ask why such a character was drawn, I 
reply in the words of Pope : 

" Ask you the provocation that I had ? 
'* The strong antipathy of good to bad.'' 

(p) Isaac Reed, Esq. editor of Dodsley's old plays, lately 
republished; a gentleman of learning, information, and ingenuity, 
and greatly respected. I mention him with very particular 
pleasure. (1796.) 

(pp) Alluding to the uniform and constant reduplication of 
the old spelling of every word in Mr. Ireland's »fw volume by 
Shakspeare. Master* for master, bye for by t brother* for 
brother, &c. &c. (1796,) 

(a) The possessor and editor of the MSS. asserted to be 
^hakspeare's ; from whose oflcina in Norfolk-street, issued the 

tragedy 



C 138 ] 

He laughs to see cur new Salmoneus stand, 

His mimic thunder rattling o'er the Strand, 130 

On fiery coursers from Olympiads plain, 

Tossing the torch, in sov'reign splendor vain, 

Command the world's prostration from afar, 

" SHAKSPEAREandJovE , 'grav , dontheburningear 

In lettered radiance ? 

AUTHOR. 

Soft a while; 'tis wrong : 
Can strains like these to manuscripts belong? 
To notes, bonds, deeds, receipts, fac-similes, 
And all that lawyers feign for proper fees ? 
Monks and attorneys may engage Malone : 
Annius, (r) or Ireland, (s) 'tis to me all one. 140 

Give 

tragedy of Vortigern, claiming to be the composition of 
Shakspeare, acted in March, 1796, at Drury-lanc Theatre, and 
received in such a flattering manner, {a) 

(>•) Annius was a monk of Viterbo in the 15th century, and 
celebrated for many forgeries of ancient manuscripts and 

inscriptions 

(a) 1. e. d—mn'd by Box, Pit, and Gallery, 



[ 139 ] 

Give me the soul that breathes in Shakspeare's page, 

Strength from within, the unresisted rage, 

The thought that stretch'd beyond creation's bound. 

And in the flaming walls no barrier found, 

The pen he dipt in mind; (ss) — I'll hush to rest 

The little tumults of a critic's breast. 

What though no Vatican unbars the door, 
No Palatine to Ireland yields it's store, 
Treasures he has, and many a prouder tome 
Than kings to Granta gave, or Bodley's dome. 150 
Pages, on which the eye of Shakspeare (t) por'd, 
The notes he made, the readings he restor'd, 

The 

inscriptions. See his Seventeen Books of Antiquities. It may be 
proper to observe, that mere vanity was his motive j he never 
solicited any subscription fcr his ancients, 

{s) See all the farrago, of which Mr. Ireland possesses the 
originals^ numerous beyond belief; I will not attempt to describe 
them. (1796.) 

Nav. Suidas de Vet. Auct. 

(/) Mr. Ireland asserts that he has the very library of Shahpeare, 
with his signature, his notes, and remarks, &c. in the margin of 
$he books, all in bit own band-writing. 



[ Mi ] 

The very gibes he scribbled, and the joke 
That from the laughing bard on margins broke. 

But where's the dark array, the vesture plain, 
With many a mouldering venerable stain ? 
All fled : a wonder opens to our view ; 
The shield is scower'd, and the books are new; (je\ 
In her own hues great Nature best is seen : 
So Ireland spoke ; and made the black— One Green. 

Eternal verdure bloom in Shakspeare's grove ! 16 
Where led by light from heav'n, he oft would rove 
In solitude and sacred silence blest ; 
And in the musings of his mighty breast, 



(„r) Mr. Ireland has not thought proper to preserve the books 
cf Shaksfieare's Library in their original and curious old black 
binding, (as could have been wished) ; but, like the nurse 
employed by Dr. Cornelius ScribSerus, he has scovvered them 
well, and made theme// neiv ; and with singular felicity has 
re-hound them all in green morocco! if 

I have written this whole passage in the Poem and the 
Notes, to -perpetuate the memory of this extraordinary event in 
literary history, which seems to be passing into oblivion. I 
cannot think that any subject relating to Shakspeare should b& 
wholly disregarded. (T7.96O 



[ 1*1 ] 

All as he scann'd the volume of the past, 
O'er Greece and Rome one wishful glance would cast; 
Mourn not, pleas'd Nature cried,their sounds unknown, 
My universal language is your own. 

OCTAV1US. 

Enough for me great Shakspeare's words to hear, 
Though but in common with the vulgar ear, 170 
Without one note, or horn-book in my head, 
Ritson's coarse trash, or lumber of the dead. 
Can flippant wit, and book-learn'd confidence, 
Alone give right to science, taste and sense ? 
Is modest worth by idle boasting shewn ? 
Then, nor till then, will I approve Malone : (y) 

See 

{y) See Mr. Malone's Enquiry into the authenticity of Mr, 
Ireland's Shakspeare MSS. &c. which he calls (not improperly) 
a Vindication of Shakspeare. The subject is indeed rather 
everlaid by the learned critic, but there is much sagacity and 
ingenuity in the treatment of it, and I think it is satisfactory 
and proves the point. Still Mr. Malone is too confident and 
presumptuous, and not always attentive to that politeness of 
character, which at least all amateur critics should maintain. 

I think 



C 144 ] 

See on the critic, " in his pride of place," 



Laborious 



I think Mr. Ireland will now hardly say of these manuscripts! 
and original plays of Shakspeare, 

Nunc non e manibus illis, 
Nunc non e tumulo fortunatdyue favilla, 
Nascentur violse I * 

No, Mr. Ireland, neither violets nor guineas.—" Go to bed$ 
" Basil ; good night, go to bed.*' (See the Spanish Barber.) 

I have just read two pamphlets on this subject* the first by 
Mr. Ireland's son, and the second by Mr. Ireland himself. The 
shameless effrontery of the boy, in avowing himself the author 
of these manuscripts, is only equalled by the tender solicitude 
of the father for their credit and authenticity. Mr. Ireland 
senior originally rested the whole with his son who, as he con* 
stantly affirmed, gave the collection to him, plays, receipts, 
drawings, deeds, " white, black, and gr.ey,andall the trumpery j" 
but declined naming the person from whom he received them. 
Mr. Ireland senior now presents us with the testimony of the 
Rev, Dr. Parr, Sir Isaac Heard, Mr. Pinkerton, Mr. Laureate 
Pve, Mr.-Eosweil, &c. who all signed a paper (very 'wisely to be 
sure) that they were convinced of the authenticity of the papers. 
What can that prove r" 

The boy's tale is simple; he absolutely asserts that he forged 
the whole collection, and gave the papers to his father, to please 
at once and to deceive him, and the world. A very dutiful and 
very modest lad ! Do we believe the boy ? If we do, the busi- 
ness is at end. The Father again and again asserts, that he is 
ignorant of the person or the place from whence they came, and 

refers 
* Pers, Sat. 1. v. 38, 



I m 3 

Laborious Chalmers drops his leaden mace, (yy) 



In 



refers to his son's information. Now he disbelieves his own son, 
and defends the authenticity of the papers. Utrum Horum F 

In short, between them hoth, Father and Son, there appears to 
me, what the Greeks call a Xropyn, a sort of natural parental 
affection for these manuscripts, which is very strange, and 
which I cannot explain, but Which quite satisfies me ss to the 
nature of their originality. Mr. Malone's learning and politeness 
feave not much to do with the business as a matter of fact \ and 
the whele question now turns upon this momentous point: 
" whether Mr. Ireland or Mr. Malone is the greatest 
scholar ? (#)" This is what the logicians call the Reductioad 
Absurdum ; and there the question may sleep, and Shakspeare 
too. (Jan, 5, 1797.) 

{yy) See " The Apology for the Believers in— (Mr. Ireland's) 
Shakspeare Papers." 

Ci So forc"d from wind-guns lead itself can fly, 

*' And pond'rous slugs cut swiftly through the sky. ,, (/;>) 

Mr. Chalmers is a well informed, very useful, and well-meaning 
writer, buc too " laborious, heavy and busy 1 ' in his works, lc 
was but a waste of erudition to throw it away on this compo- 
sition. He always has my thanks for his political information ; 
but I wish he had more spirit and a more animated manner; for 
he is a gentleman of great learning and respectability, when 
employed in his proper department. 

(a) See Mr. Ireland's farewell pamphlet on Mr. Malone's 
Scholarship . (Ju^yS, I 797«) 

JJf) DunciaqL 



L J 44 ] 
In the wild squabbles of a word)'' war, 
Let rabid (z) Porson tell, or gr'resly Parr, (a) it 
Coombe, Travis, Ireland, or whate'er the name, 
The breeding of mere critics is the same : 
From royal Phalaris let your views extend 
To Bristol's wizard stripling, and his end. 

Hear Catcott {b) cry, in chearless life's decline, 
Thus Rowley once, and Chatterton were mine. 

He 

(k) Mr. Professor Porson's Letters to Archdeacon Travis are 
conspicuous for their erudition, acuteness, accuracy, virulence, 
bitterness, and invective. 

(a) I allude to Dr. Parr's Controversy with Dr. Coombe 
about Horace. It seems Dr. Parr was angry that he did not 
assist the little critical man-midwife at the labour, " rire matures 
** aperire partus." Dr. Parr is more fond of a Caesarian opera- 
tion in criticism. See more in a future note to the Third Dia- 
logue of this Poem. 

{h) When I first published the first part of this poem (in 1794) 
I had only casually glanced on the subject of Rowley. See 
P. of L, Part. I. but since that time having had some leisure 
and more curiosity, I have perused many of tlie learned trea- 
tises upon it. I never wish to have any thing to do with 
the decision of such a controversy as this, Which is even now 
scarcely at rest ; but having the feelings of a gentleman, I was 
struck, as I was reading, with the cruel treatment of poor Mr. 
Catcott of Bristol, the sneers upon the pewterer, and the illiberal 

reflections 



Me saw his Bard, by Milles's pond'rous length (bh) 
O'erlaid, revive in splendor* fame, and strength, 
For Bryant (c) came ; the Muses all return, 
And light their lamps at Rowley's fruitful urn ; 190 

While 

reflections on a plain, curious, honest, and inoffensive man, 
without whose zeal and solicitude, (I speak from the printed 
accounts) these singular poems would never have appeared B 
He seemed to say with justice, 

Oro, miserere laborum 
Tantorum, miserere animi non digna ferentis. * 

(hb) The edition of Rowley's Poems by the Rev. Dr. Milles* 

(c) No man of literature can pass by the name of Mr* 
Bryant without gratitude and reverence. He is a gentleman 
of attainments peculiar to himself, and of classical erudition 
without an equal in Europe* His whole life has been spent in 
laborious researches, and the most curious investigations. He 
has a youthful fancy, and a playful wit: with the mind, and 
occasionally with the pen, of a poet; artd with an ease and 
simplicity of style aiming only at perspicuity, and, as I think, 
attaining it, He has contended in various fields of controversy- 
with various success; but always with a zeal for truth and a 
soberness of enquiry. 

In speaking of Mr. Bryant, I have no necessity, as I 
too often have, to qualify my commendations. He has live"d 
to see his eightieth winter (and may he yet long live) with, 
the esteem of the wise and good; in honourable retire- 
ment from the cares of life; with a gentleness of manners, 
and a readiness and willingness of literary communication 

K seldom 

* Virg. JEn ( a. v. 143. 



• [ 146 ] 

While Cam receiv'd the Bard with all his train, 
Though Isis turn'd her current in disdain. 

The Boy whom once patrician pens adorn'd, 
First meanly fiatter'd, (cc) then as meanly scorn 'd, 
Drooping he (dd) rais'd, and lent his little aid, 
The gleanings of a hard and humble trade. 
Innoxious man : yet what may truth avail L 
Blameless his life, and simple as his tale ; 

. Each 



seldom found. He is admired and sought after by the young 
who are entering on a course of study ; and revered, and often 
followed, by those who have completed it. Above all, he has 
gone forth in the strength imparted unto him, in defence of the 
holy law made and given by God ; he has put on the panoply 
from above, and having enlarged his mind and sanctified his 
studies, he may expect with humble confidence the consummation 
of his reward. 

NoMEN IN EXEMPLUM SERO SERVABIMUS JEVO ! (1796.) 

(a-) Alluding to the letters written by the Hon. Horace 
Waipole (now Lord Orford) to Thomas Chatterton, printed 
in some magszines or newspapers. I remember to have seen 
them, but I cannot point out at present the time or date of 
them. I think they were written from Strawberry Hill, but I 
am not sure. (1796.) 

{dd) i, e. Mr. Catcott. - 




[ m ] 

Each rude enquirer's sneering taunt he feels, 
Contempt or insult dogs him at his heels; 20© 

No kind support subscribing fondness pours, 
For him no wealth descends in fost'ring show'rs; 
Yet be this truth to future times reveal'd, 
<f The wound a Varro gave, Iapis heal'd." (a) 

Go now, for moths, and roils, and parchments search j 
Ransack the chest, the closet, or the church; 
Brave all the joint associates of A. S. 
The jest insipid, and the idle guess ; 
Bind, copy, comment, manuscript and print, 
Take from good-natur'd friends some useful hint ;2 10 
From Bewick's {d) magic wood throw borrow'd rays 
O'er many a page in gorgeous Bulmer's blaze ; 

Alas, 



(a) See Bishop Atterbury's comment on tie Dilectus Iapis 
of Virgil— I shall add, IATPIKOTATOX, <p*Xo^go 5 xa< 

sva&w, Ell AKPON TH2 IIAIAfelAS owhouios. - 

(d) Mr. Bewick, the great restorer of the lost art of 
engraving upon wood. I need only mention his figures of the 
quadrupeds, and his plates to Buimer's edition of Goldsmiths 

K a poems* 



[ H8 ] 
Alas, for thee ! nor profit hope, nor fame 3 
Contempt your lot, and solitary shame. 

Go rather, and indulge Dramatic rage $ 
All love a public or a private stage : 
Our nobles now, as players, will be seen, 
A Duke's chaste daughter, or a Margravine; 
Fled are the soft reserve and nicer sense, 
Those primal guards of love and innocence ; 220 
Unzon'd the nymphs, like Highland Charlotte clad. 

AUTHOR* / 

Why not all bare ? less shame's in being mad. (e) 

OCTAVIUS. 

poems. Mr. Buhner is the ingenious printer of the magnificent 
edition of Shakspeare by Messrs. John and Josiah Boydell, and 
Mr. George NicolJ : a work which, having been uniformly 
conducted on the most liberal principles, and intended 
for the honour of the country, should be patronised by the 
British nation. 

(e) The dress of the present period has warranted the 
caricatures of the day, particularly one, which is called " The 
** dress of ladies as it will be." I write in A. D. 1796; 
Juvenal, who wrote about the year Ninety Six, said on 

a similar 



[ >49 3 
OCTAVIUS, 

Soft ; and o'er female failings lightly pass. 

Oh ! may Aglaia (/) lead them to their glass* 

Connubial glories rising o'er their head. 

As life's domestic happier stage they tread ; 

There may they look, well pleas'd themselves to find 

The guardians, comforts, teachers of mankind ! 

AUTHOR. 

I listen with delight 2 that strain again ; 
I'll bless the sex, 

OCTAVIUS. 

a similar subject, " Nudus agas ; minus est insania turpis." 
Sat. 2, v. 71. But strange to say, he was speaking of the dress 
of the men. 

(/) Aglaia is the name of one of the Graces ; she dictated to 
Mr. Pope the following lines: 

Let not each beauty every where be spied, 
Where half the skill is decently to hide. * 
The ladies should remember that the imagination is a busy 
power. 

* Moral Epistles : Ep. 4. v. 53s 
K 3 



[ *£ ] 

O C T A V I U S. 

Now pass to titled men. 230 

Mark, as Thalia calls with graceful air, 
The soft patrician of St. James's square ; (g) 
Her nuptial [h) voice at Blenheim Marlb 'rough heard, 
While lyric Carlisle purrs (J) o'er love transferr'd. 

Nay 

(g) His Grace the Duke of Leeds, a good scholar, one of the 
most polite and very best bred men in the kingdom, and a 
great patron of the-drama and its concerns. (1790.) 

(//) A Private Theatre often proves a convenient chapel of 
ease to Hymen. 

Families of rank, distinction, and fortune, will at last 
be convinced, what is the natural and inevitable conclusion of 
boys and girls making love to one another upon any stage, 
public or private, particularly in a private theatre. If it termi- 
nates in marriage 1 the Fathers and Mothers should not be 
surprised or angry: If the end of it, is intrigue ; if the girls 
are debauched, and the boys come into life with the manners 
and morals of Players, the parents may be sorry ; but it is their 
own work. 

(?) Purrs. — Dr. Johnson says, " to purr is to murmur as a cat 
" or leopard in pleasure." I have heard that Lord Carlisle 
('« Quel d'amor travagliato Sacripante,'') is writing an opera 
entitled, 4t Angelica e Medoro." Angelica is supposed to be 
rather advanced in life; and I think he x grand- daughter is brought 
©n the stage. — St/yercncn. (1796.)— The Opera, as it is con- 
jectured, 



[ *fi ] 
Nay Thurlow once, ('tis said) could sing or swear, 
Like Poly/theme, " I cannot cannot bear;" (k) 
For ah ! presumptuous Acis (Jkk) wrests the prize, 

And 

jectured, is to be dedicated to the Right Honourable Lady 
Jersey^ in memory and in imitation of the gallant and accom- 
plished Medoro, as recorded by Ariosto: 

tl Delia Comodita che qui rn} data, 
Io poveroMedor &c„ 

Ariosto adds, of the noble Earl, or Count, 

" Era scritto in Jrahico, che il Conte 
Intendea con ben come Latino." 

O. F. Cant. 23. s. 108. 

If my romantic memory does not deceive me, Sacripante 
was jilted by Angelica. See Ariosto. But subjects of the 
highest importance are pressing on me so fast, that I am obliged 
to dismiss Lord Carlisle, Lady Jersey, &c. &c. and all theyout/is 
who are dying for places or for love, in the words of the poet, 
Ne sono a Ferrau, ne a Sacri/zante, 
(O sia Carliglio) per dcnar fiiu rima\ 
Da lor mi leva il Principe a" Anglante, &c. 

O. F. Cant. 12. 3.96. 

(k) " Torture, fury, rage, despair, 

" I cannot, cannot, bear." 
Air (by Polypheme) in the Serenata of Acis and Galatea. 

{kk) Presumptuous Acis. (i. e. Mr. Pitt.) — I allude to a cir- 
cumstance not generally known; but which, as I have never 
seen any public notice of it, these lines are meant to record. 

K 4 About 



[ m 3 

And ravishes (/) the nymph before his eyes 



Such 



About two years ago the Serenata* of Ac is and Galatea 
(wiihsome violation, I believe, of the fable, and not a little of 
the harmony and of the melody) was performed in Downing 
Street to a private company. Trje'part of Acjs by Mr. Pitt, 
Poly/theme by Lord Thurlow, and Galatea^ by Lord Lough- 
borough. Mezzi So/irani) Lqrd Kenyon and Pepper. 
Arden, with a sort of Messa Bassa* by Edmund Burke ; the 
other vocql parts by a select Committee of both Houses a due 
con'. I was not present at the entertainment myself, but was 
informed, that Mr. Pitt, in the execution of the difficult passages, 
did not sufficiently attend to his ajijioggiaturas, which indeed he 
seldom does; that the haritom of Lord Thurlow was quits 

Polyphemish, 

* Mr. Pitt patronizes musical performances on the principle 
of the gods according to Plato ; but with Apollo, Dionusus is not 
forgotten. " Ch Szoi oixrzipocvrts avQpwnav (some MS. insert 
" TrsAj-nxo/v) sTmtovov Trs^vxo; yevo;, rocs 'M.scra.s xai AnoXKoovx 
" y,oli &iovv(Tom JEuvsopTOtarcct; ecocrav." Plat, de Legibii's. 1. 2. J 
In Mr. Pitt's musical ministry, the famous terms of the EkXvoi? 
and the ExooXtj of Bacchius and Aristides are familiar and much 
used by this great modern artist. The ¥<z?^fxv<; AvrKpQoyyos (see 
Athenaeus, 1. 14. p. 635.) between Mr. Pitt and Loid Thurlow 
was much admired by the Cabinet about the year 1794. 

f Plat. Op. Ed. Serrani ? torn 2. p. 653. 

* All the Catholics know (and we have enough of them to tell 
us, as the Marquis and Marchioness of Buckingham know to 
their own and their company's cost) that the Messa Bassa is a 
mass whispered by the priest during a musical performance, 
( l 79 6 «) I 



[ Hi 1 

Such feats his honour little Pepper [m) saw, 

Jo all the pride of music and of law, 240 

AUTHOR, 

If truth and joke, though pleasingly combine, 
What credit will attend the motley line ? 
Where is your trust ? 

OCTAVIUS. 



Polyphemish, and fully sustained ; but that it was impossible 
to do justice to Lord Loughborough\^zw/«#W0, when — he died 
ftivay in the arms of Acis. ( 1 796.) 

N, B. Bishop Hurd would say this note Is allegorical, or 
ftleusinian: the late Mr. Gibbon and Lord Sheffield would as 
stoutly, deny it. For my own part I think there is much, 
eloquent music in these meta/zhors, which record the political 
conversion pf Lord Loughborough to Mr. Pitt's party .-<— Ah! 
le Grand O/tera ! ! ! (1796.) 

■(/) The Nymph, i. e. Galatea, i. e. Lord Loughborough. 
This was more than a Sabine feat in my opinion. Who's afraid ? 
pot Mr. Pitt. 

(m) Little Pepper, i. e. Sir Richard Pepper Arden, Kr. 
Master of the Rolls. His legal abilities have certainly been 
under rated ? but I have done ample justice to his musical powers. 



[ 154 ] 

OCTAVIUS. 

To this discerning land 
I trust, and laugh : there are who understand. 
If from state "farces, when the House is up, 
Some seek the greenroom, and with Kemblesup, (mm) 
(For who on modest merit shuts the door ?) 
Leeds says, so gentle Lselius did before; - 
Laelius, in whom each graceful act could please, 
In wisdom mild, and dignified in ease, 25© 

With Terence oft the public cares would shun. 

AUTHOR. 

Terence and Kemble? — the dispute is done. 

I ever mark'd (deem not the thought severe) 

What bounds divide the actor from the peer : 

Confound them, I'll believe a saint, a rogue; 

Andrews writes farce, a Duke the epilogue ; 

Burke 
(.#?/») 1796. 



[ *ss 1 

Burke may the right of property invade; 
Steevens contract the Commentator's trade; 
To Erskine Kenyon seem a classic wit ; 
Or Paine apologize for holy writ ; • 2 6a 

The Dramatist (n) himself and fame belie, 
And leave the stage for truth and honesty ; 
St. Helens quit his diplomatic pomp ; 
Siddons be comic ; Jordan sink the Romp; 
Ireland prove Shakspeare ; Bentley be Malone ; 
Thelwall dread preaching, or high treason, Stone; 
Who hates not Merry, Jerningham may love; 
And GiiTord Delia Crusca's self approve. 

OCTAVIUS. 

Merry and Crusca ! — GifFord's right : beware ; 
The very ground is his and Bavian air. 270 

AUTHOR. 

{n) See a Poem entitled, " The Political Dramatist of the 
** House of Commons in 1795': a Satire, 2d Ed. with a Post- 
}■ script containing Remarks on the Declaration of the Whig- 
fl Club on the 23d of January 1796."- This Poem is recom- 
mended to the public on those public principles, which I consider 
as of the highest importance to these kingdoms. 



[ 156 ] 



AUTHO R. 

No : I'll not seek the tracks his arrows fire 
With light that marks, but marks not to expire ; 
The climes he roams, where'er his footsteps sped, 
I pass with caution, or but lightly tread, 
Or pleas'd with rlow'rs his fancy best can strew, 
I sit, and think I read my Pope anew, (o) 

Yet grant the stage is noble ; I believe 
Greek is plebeian, with Lord (Ji) Belgrave's leave : 

Though 



(o) The author of the Baviad and the Maeviad. Mr. Gifford is 
the most correct poetical writer I have read, since the days of 
Pope. Upon the whole I give the preference to the Baviad, 
after much consideration, though both the Poems may be 
studied with pleasure and advantage. (1796.) 

(/r) Lord Belgrave ; a learned and accomplished young 
nobleman of the present time. At his first entrance into the 
House of Commons in all the honest enthusiasm of his heart, in 
academic freshness and classic vigour, he quoted a passage 
from Demosthenes in Greek. This subjected him to the idle and 

impotent 



[ ?# ] 

Though now some high imperial critics chafe, 
To think not iEschylus himself is safe, (q) 280 

Go to his text : revise, digest, compare, 
With Porson's shrewdness, or with Valknaer's care : 
Say, is the learned page once out of sight ? 
Some Scotch Greek swindling printer (r) steals your 
right. 

But 

impotent ridicule of the Dramatist of the House of Commons, whose 
schoolboy memory on that occasion happened to be more accurate. 
Lord Belgrave had done no more than I have often heard from 
Mr. Fox himself, who loves and understands Greek. As to the 
long and illustrious train of our young nobility and gentry, 
distinguished for their loyal conduct and attachment to their 
country, I will say with some spirit and animation ; 

Bii patrii, quorum semper sub numine Troja est, 
Non tamen omnino Teucros delere paratis, 
Cum tales animos Juvenum, et tarn certa tulisiis 
Pectoral* (1796.) 

(q) " They swear, not Addison himself is safe." Pope. 

(r) I allude to a transaction which seems to be unwar- 
rantable. Mr. Porson, the Greek Professor at Cambridge, lent 
his manuscript corrections and conjectures on the text of 
jEschylus, to a friend in Scotland; for he once had, and I 
hope still has, an intention of publishing that tragedian, though 
it may now be suspended. His corrected text fell into the hands 

of 

* Virg, JEn, 9. v. 247. 



I 158 ] 

But mark ! the sea-birds sound the note of doom 9 
And venom' d" insects [s) cluster round the tomb ; 
The Grecian billows foam along the strand, 
In angry murmurs deaf 'ning all the land ; 
Ranging for vengeance from his native shore, 
Archilochus is rous'd, to sleep no more. 290 

of the Scotch printer FowHs, and without the Professor's leave, 
or even knowledge, he published a magnificent edition of 
JEschylus from it, without notes. I believe my statement is 
tolerably correct. I am sure I would not misrepresent any fact 
whatever, nor have I ever done so intentionally; and I would 
retract any mistake with the utmost willingness. I hope how- 
ever, that Mr. Porson will not be discouraged, but continue 
his labours on the Greek Lexicon of P/iotius t as the learned world 
are in eager expectation of a work so long, and hitherto so 
Tainly desired. 

But, in my opinion, the lovers of literature would be in- 
finitely mere obliged to him, or to any other illustrious critic, 
for a new edition of the Greek Bibliotheca of Photlus, which 
abounds with the most curious and valuable Excerpta of Wri- 
ters, whose integral works are lost for ever. At present it is 
troublesome even to read the remains of the laborious erudition 
of the Patriarch of Byzantium. (1796,) 

(/) The tomb of Archilochus was placed on the sea shore,- 
(I think in the island of Paros,) and the poets feigned that in 
the cavities of the stone, worn away by the waves, a swarm of 
wasps was concealed, ready to avenge the least insult that could 
be offered to it. 



■— — aim 11 iw 

THE END OF THE SECOND DIALOGUE. 



[ 159 ] 



THE 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



DIALOGUE THE THIRD. 



ExXayJav <T ap oWroi art co^uv xcjo'iaevow, 

AvTH XiVT^EVTOS* O &' -*Ji£ Nl»>4TJ S01X60Z. 
E^St' STTS'.T UTTOCVEvQs VSWV, JU.ST0J. £' iOV I'/JXE, 

Aejvt) £s Kkayyn ysvzr apyvpeoio €1010. 
Oupyus posv Tipcorov zTtooyjcro, xca K.YMA2 apyns* 
Avrap sTtsir ATTOI2I €s"ko; exsntuxs; atyizis 
BaAA'* «J£J ^£ 7T^«i VSXUWV xaiovTo fiaptfiau 

Horn. II. i. 



t 161 1 






fe 



THE PREFACE 

*FO THE THIRD DIALOGUE^) 

THE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



TctVrtZ. Tr&vb* VTTSp 'ttM.OJVy VftZp Tins' A\Yl$£HZf t V7TSp VA$ 

vfASTEpocr TloXireicctt aai rcov Nc/xwv, kaci rw 2<wt*j pioc;, x<zi 

mm tiwz ihpQefwtufi AKPIBOAOrOTMAI KAI 
AIEEEPXOMAI. (b) 

Licet omnibus, licet eiiam mibi, dignilaierii Patriae tuerii potestds 
mbdo veniendi in publicum sit, DICENDI PERICULUM NOIT 

RECUSO.(c) 

I PRESENT the Third Part of this Poem to the public, 
at the same time that I offer the Second, though I had 
intended to delay it; but some subjects are of an im- 
portance serious and urgent, not to be deferred. Where- 

L ever 

(0) First printed in May 1796. 

(£) Demosthenes, {<■) Cicero. Philipp. ** 



C »°*2 ] 

ever the freedom of the press exifts, (and with us may 
that freedom be perpetual !) I must assert this truth, as art 
axiom ; that 9 

Literature, well or ill conducted, is the great 
engine, by which all civilized states must ultimately 
he supported or overthrown* 

It is not enough to say, a book is bulky or voluminous, 
and therefore can have no effect upon the mass of the 
people, because that opinion is not true. Such a book 
can not only be abridged and dispersed abroad, but a man 
like Thomas Paine, with a rude, wicked and daring 
manner of thinking, and with vulgar but impressive lan- 
guage, may blend the substance of the opinions with his 
own, and in a short popular tract make them familiar 
.and intelligible to every apprehension. Thus are men 
fooled out of their understanding,^*?/^ out of their security, 
and fooled out of their happiness: and when they have lost 
every blessing beyond recovery, they look round at each 
other in a stupid despair, clashing their chains and unable 
to shake them off, and ask, " How has all this been brought 
••about?" 

I am not an enemy to the liberty of discussion, and the 
toleration of opinions; I am for NO literary proscription. 
But I think it is plainly our interest, as well as our duty, 
{while we yet may) to strive to support that constitu- 
tion IN CHURCH AND state, which has hitherto been 
able to build us up, and to give Us an inheritance, or 
father the pre-eminence, among all those who have been 
Strengthened by policy, or sanctified by revelation. What 

I woul$ 



C 163 ] 

I would contend for also, is this ; that 'among all 
who are worthy to be called scholars or legislators, 
criticism, observation, and watchfulness are peculiarly 
necessary ; that men may hear of their common danger, 
and be admonished to put a few plain questions to 
themselves; " What are we going to resign or give up, 
" and why? What are we going to adopt, and wherefore? 
I repeat it, NOW, in this our day, while the bitterness o£ 
political death is passing upon almost every other nation ii* 
Europe. 



When we are opening the avenues to Political Reform, 
and to the consequent inevitable dissolution of our own 
government, is it possible that we can for a moment 
forget the tremendous Republic ? Over every state, and 
island, and promontory in Europe she sits tyrant or 
arbitress. 



Avauyxcrxi *OI02 EOEAPOS 
BTX2O0EN EgsfweiE I [c) 

From every other state, but England, the sceptre has fallen 
by the arms, or the principles, or the treachery of France* 
What she can effect by war and invasion, that she most 
readily and most willingly accomplishes ; but she has 
other means, not less terrible, nor less certain. The sub- 
terranean wind of this fierce democracy has force enough 
lo overthrow, or to transport, hills and rocks torn from 

L z Peloms, 

(c) Callirnj Hymn; ad Delum, v, 125* 



C 164 1 

Pelorus, and by this explosion they too often hav£ 
perished. In the agony of these reflections language will 
labour, and the images of nature and all her elements in 
conflict and convulsion will present themselves, (d) 

When 

(d) The following pages, written in the year 1798, may 
not improperly be inserted here, on this great national subject. 

u Such an union is nonu demanded of the minds, the talents, 
6i and fortunes, of the souls and bodies, of all the inhabitants of 
" Great Britain, as never before entered into the hearts of 
" Englishmen to conceive. We must be preserved from the 
" tyranny and power of France, from all her principles, and 
" from all her arms, open or concealed, mental, moral, or poli- 
• c tical. I have pride and satisfaction in seeing, and feeling 
" that we are all so convinced. We know we must die, or 
* 4 defend ourselves from the mojjstrous Republic 1 

" Instat terribilis vivis ; morientibus hsres; , 

" Nulla quies : oritur prseda cessante libido ; 
<c Divitibusque dies, et nox metuenda maritis; 
" Emicat ad nutum str^cto mucrone minister ! 

M If we consider it from the commencement, it has threatened, 
" devoted, and given over all it's victims to desolation, wretched- 
" ness, plunder, and final death. Blood is the cement of the 
«« Republic of France. 

c « Some victims have bled for principle, others for example*. 
*' some for funeral pomp, and some for a civic feast : blood 
•' must flow. Each Faction has delivered over it's predecessors 
** to death. The Priests of Reason hold their rites in the field 
*' of Mars* First indeed, they soothe awhile their savageness 
u with song and festival ; but these are the preludes of san- 

tC guinary 



C »e 5 ] 

When indeed I consider this great, powerful, and yet 
opulent kingdom, with all its bearings and dependencies, 

I know 

" guinary cruelty; the stops and pauses of their war-symphonies. 
** With their laurel and cypress branches bound together and 
" dipped in blood, they advance to the altar, and perform their 
" abhorred lustration. The Manes of all that is brave, and alt 
" that is ferocious, are invoked in their democratic incantations 
'* to Reason and her Republic. 

" Ssevis opus est, et fortibus umbris; 
" Ipsafacit manes; hominum mors omnis in usu est. 

<s On the blood of their murdered Monarch they have sworn 
*' hatred to tyranny; and they have established a Directory. (*) 
u On the blood of innocence and, virginity they have sworn to 
*■* restore and to protect the female dignity j and they have, 
fi annulled the bond of marriage, and the charities of consan- 
"guinity. On the blood of their Generals streaming on the 
'* scaffold, and on the blood of armies partially devoted by 
'* other Generals in the day of battle, they have sworn to giva 
** honour, and encouragement to the Defenders of the Republic, 
*' Such are their decrees; such are their oaths registered in 
*' blood. 

All is contradiction with them, yet ail is in action, 
*' Principles of the moment, principles of reflection, principles 
" of desolation, principles of safety, all have had their hour; 
*' all have risen and fallen. Banishment and deportation have 
" now superseded the axe of the guillotine, and the sabre of 
" ruffian massacre. How long? — All changes with them ; all, 
li but the fixed lust of plunder, and aggrandisement, and the 
*5 rooted hatred to Christian Religion. To every government, 
*' and to every establishment in Europe they apply but one 
" axiom, " whatever is, is wrong!" 

L 3 " Whoever 

* Now a Consulate, (1800.) Next a — ; then a «-- &C« &«. 



[ 166 ] 

I know not which to reprobate most, the folly or the 



wickedness 



" Whoever strives to resist such an adversary, upon prin- 
" ciple and reflection, with eloquence, or wisdom, or learning, 
ct in the robes of state, or in the vestments of religion or of law, 
61 with arms in his grasp, or with well-directed opulence, by 
** counsel, by precept, or by example, must be numbered 
" among the friends of man. 

" I am most serious in my words, and earnest in my thoughts. 
tl I have been insructed by these great events, to consider all 
** actions as of some weight, and that nothing is now to be 
■' neglected, as wholly unimportant. If the efforts of the united 
" genius, learning, poetry, and eloquence of a country can be 
c< directed with strength and discretion, in their proper and 
if natural courses, we may yet have confidence. Enterprises of 
" great jiith and moraent will succeed, and a righteous security 
•' may be established. 

** Consider for a moment what is the hope of bad men, 
** The Orator of Athens has declared, that their hope of 
* s safety is placed in the excess of their wickedness, 
"and iniquity alone*." The haunts, and caves, and 
" tenements, and sculking huts of sophistry, anarchy, reheU 
** lion, democracy, and Jacobinism, will at length be fully 
44 revealed, avid finally levelled and ruined. When the fountains 
M of hallowed fire are once opened, and flowing with liquid 
" purity in the silence of the night, the objects which darkness 
*• would conceal, are not only discovered, but destroyed. 

*' The force of France is indeed formidable; but her 
" Principles, wherever they take root, and grow, and bear, 
*• are alone invincible. If we think otherwise, 1 fear, we deceive 
*' ourselves, and the truth is not with us. France invites every 

•' European 

* Ev rn ms <novr,qia; vTTEpQoKin rnv eton&a rws o-avngas s%£i, 
Demosthenes Orat. u Contra Aristogiton. pag. 483. Ed. Bene*; 
,sati Gr. 1570. 



r «6 7 ] 

wickedness of its internal enemies, and of the desperate 

French 



•'European government to suicide. Her High Priest f told 
44 her long ago, that no Government could perish but by it's 
** own hand, and by it's consent to d?e. The Government of 
*' Great Britain has given no such consent. Her King, her 
44 Nobles, her Commons, her Soldiers, her Sailors, her Senators, 
44 her tatesmen, her Lawyers, her Artists, her Merchants, her 
44 Citizens, her Peasants, all maintain and declare witho»<?voice 9 
44 and with arms in their hands, " Great Britain has given 
44 no consent to die." She has not lifted up her arms against 
44 herself: she is willing and desirous to live. She has humbled 
44 herself before God the Judgeof all, through the Great Mediator 
44 of humanity. She knows her strength, and has felt her infir- 
14 mity ; she is earnest for her preservation from her foes within 
44 and without ; and having done all, and still committing herself, 
44 and her cause, to him whojudgeth righteously, she hopes 
44 yet to stand, 

44 Whether the end of all things may be at hand; and what 
4< the decrees of Eternal Power, Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness 
44 may intend in the last resort, we acknowledge to be inscru- 
44 table. But we trust, it cannot be deemed an unwarrantable 
44 presumption to suggest or to affirm, that, if the attributes of 
44 God are true; if man is his creature, and governed by his 
44 laws; the opposers of this overbearing, desolating, impious, 
44 and universal Tyranny must be justified before Hjm! 
44 As to us, the inhabitants of Great Britain, if we would exist 
44 at all, we must be preserved as we are. Our Constitution 
44 is not lost; and the ramparts we have raised around it, will 
44 maintain it entire. Our liberties are supported equally 
44 against arbitrary power, and against the engines of licentious- 
J* ness and democracy. Upon us the destiny of Europe, and 

L 4 " perhaps 

f Voltaire. 



C 168 j 

French faction in the heart of it's metropolis. When I 
think on these things, and at the same time reflect, that the 
eyes of a whole nation were originally opened by One 
Man, and the systems of internal destruction and of 
irreversible misery, which awaited us, were displayed and 
confounded by his powers, I pardon and forget his 
eccentricities, and even his partiality for the Romish faith 
and its professors, and the heat and violence which too 
frequently and too fatally attend upon the uncontrolled 
Genius of Edmund Burke. Sometimes indeed, (it is 
when my heart burns within me) I pour out my thoughts 
by myself in contemplation of my country, which J 
Jove with ardour unabated, and of its great Citizen, 
whom I approach with reverence, in the words of the; 
poet : 

Quae cum magna modis multis miranda videtur 
Gentibus humanis Regio, vispndaque fertur. 
Rebus opima bonis, multa munita virum vi, 
Nil tamen hoc habuisse Viro pr^eclarius in se, 
Nee sanctum magis et mirum carumque videtitr. [e) 

But 

*' perhaps of the whole civilized world, ultimately depends: it 
?* seems placed in our hands, a fearful and an awful charge. 

" Omnia Fata I ah or ant, 
41 Si quidquam mutare veils ; UNOQUg sue ictu 
*• Stat genus humanum !"* 

(?) " Animo vidit, ingenio comjdexus est, eloquentia illumina* 
tl vity These are the words of Paterculus concerning Cicero. 
How natural to transfer them to Edmunp Burke ! (1796.) 

The 

* Prefatory E/iistk to the Translation bf, the Passages cited in $he 



'[ i6 9 ] 

But still on such a subject, of such a man, and at sucli 
3 time, I would speak with precision, and admire with 
circumspection. Let us call to mind for a moment the few 
years just past, and the transactions, the traces of which are 
felt and visible. I would pass over them rapidly, but I 
could wish the view to be impressive. 

We have been delivered from a state of much internal 
terror and impending anarchy, and from the confusion 
of a new political chaos, where all was brute and disorderly. 
Our constitution, our liberties, and our rights, (I fear not 
to name the word, we have and enjoy them all, rights 
public and private) all these have been preserved and con- 
firmed. 

Every rank in society, the peasant, the lawyer, the 
mechanic, the farmer, the tradesman, the private gentle- 
man, have all felt, and acknowledged, and obeyed the 
paramount call of their country. Peace is within our walls, 
and it is their work. In the higher orders of the state, and 
in the Sovereign, we have seen a gracious behaviour, a 
common interest, an equal exertion, and a regular, defined, 
limited power. Of such a conduct security is the natural 
production ; it blossoms into fruit, But with this though 
man maybe happy, he will not always, nor indeed long, be 
satisfied. He will reach at perfection absolute and unqua- 
lified, forgetting, that theoretical perfection in government 
#nd practical oppression are closely allied, He will be 
more than man, and he becomes less. 

la 

The words also of one of the Fathers of the Church were 
verified by the zeal, writings, speeches, and exertions of this 
great and illustrious man, 

A/*« E C I2 AvQp&JTro; £ri\u •Kzisvpw&zvos 'OAQKAHPON* 
fyopfatr&afai &r,u.w. Chrysost. Avfy. a* 



[ I/O ] 

la the years seventeen hundred and eighty eight and 
eighty nine, the visionary prospect from the shore of 
France opened on the eyes of our modern Reformers; 
England looked upon these Reformers, and the govern- 
ment neglected them* Societies, in the very face of an 
insulted legislature, boldly multiplied, and magnified, 
and consolidated each other: All grew up in silence. 
There was no public apprehension among the well-affected, 
bo distrust. We laughed at metaphysical distinctions, and 
idle terms of scholastic art, and revolutionary dinners, 
and republican toasts. It was an hour of general and of 
unaccountable indifference. The great chain of posts, and 
a species of telegraphic communication had been establishe4 
unperceived. 

The English revolution in 1688 was held up to seeming 
approbation and reverehce, but in reality to secret or rather 
to open contempt; and the Revolution in France 1788, was 
the. Revolution which they intended to realize and to cele- 
brate. The Reformers strove to buy golden opinions of 
their fellow citizens, and to wear them in their newest gloss. 
The external decoration deceived the eye. The painted 
sepulchre was prepared and whited without, the vault and 
receptacle of all our ancient liberties, and rights, and secu- 
rities, and properties, and common comforts. Still we 
beheld all this, but went our way, and forgot what manner 
of men these Reformers were. 

At this very hour, when the public mind was darkened 
that it could not discern, when in every quarter of the 
heaven appeared vapour, and mist, and cloud, and exha^ 

haion: 

La piova maladetta, fredda, e greve, 
(Regola e qraliu strana era, e nuova) 

Grandine 



I m 1 

tjrandine grossa, e acqua tinta, e neve, 
Per l'aer tenebroso si ri versa! (a) 

At this very hour the morning horizon began suddenly to 
redden. It was the dawn. Then indeed, " First in his 
* east the glorious lamp was seen, Regent of Day!" This 
Uiminary was Edmund Burke. Light broke upon 
them all. The features of misrule and malignity, of 
tyranny and of oppression, the fabled spectres and hostile 
powers figured by poets and orators, were realized in the 
spirits of turbulence, dissatisfaction, sedition, rebellion, 
and democracy ; but they were seen to be dispersed. The 
rays of the orb were direct, collected, and concentrated: 
they had power to illuminate and to consume. Bat the 
course of this orb, though marked, was short : it is .set ; 
never to return, [b) 

Ow /xsv X« faovToz ajtry^es;, s<$e Qxvovrot;. (c) 

I must proceed. — I confess, that I am not such a 
desperate lover of what is brought to me for abstract 
political truth, as never to make an enquiry into the 
characters of the proposers of it, their personal views, and 
the men and measures with which they are connected. I 
feel myself a member of regulated society, and I would 
maintain an established order. I acknowledge myself a 
iSubject of a mild and equitable government, (though under 
a most severe temporary pressure) and I would preserve* 
that goverment which gives us all protection. And 

when 

(.a) Dante Inf. C. 6. From what other Poet, ancient or 
piodern, could I draw forth such expressions? 

(^) (August 1797.) {c) Horn. 11,33. v. 69, 



[ *7* ] 

when I adopt the great rule, that " we should love our 
** neighbour as ourselves," I have not yet made such 
advances in the theory of political justice, and in the new- 
wisdom, as coolly to assert, that " this maxim, though 
*f possessing considerable merit as a popular principle, is 
''not strictly modelled with philosophical precision" (a) 

I have not yet learned to treat the Revelation of God, nor 
the institutions of my country, with contumely, I have no 
romantic ideas of virtues without motives, and of actions 
without regulations. I believe it to be a matter of general 
safety, that crimes should be discerned, as well as repressed, 
by legal sanctions; and that the nature of justice, and of 
injustice, should be declared, taught and enforced, by law, 
ty religion, and by education* Experience has instructed 
me, and reason and reflection have confirmed me in the 
belief, that Conscience may be erroneous; that it is a 
monitor which needs advice, and a guide which often 
calls for superior direction. I look upon justice as the 
foundation (b) and the support, but not as the whole of 

human 

(a) See an Enquiry into Political Justice, by William God-, 
win. 2d edit. 8vo. vol. i. p. 127, 

(h) Aixz ttoXicov ao-(paXsf BA0PON. (Pindar.) But who 
calls a foundation, a building ?— The whole passage of the poet 
has such strength and grace, when applied to Great Britain, 
that I will present it to our Grecian patriots. " Oikov £/xe/>qv 
*' cmttcis, £e\<oicti £s QspocTrovTa, yvojco^oci racy ox£iccv KoptvSov, 
*' rrpoQvpov Uorsi'S&vof, ayXaoKugoV' Ev ra. yoop Jluvo(jux vocisi^ 
fi xocGiyvriTcci re, Afxa toXioov aafyzXt? GtzQgov, x.cct ofjuorpoTros 
" Etpava, TotfjLiou avtipavi tt?^8T8, y^puazoci 7rou?$£S syCaXa ©s/xiror, 
• <st a,\s£siv v£piv, x.opov (xurspcc Qpao-ufAuBov, JLv £s Niota a3u7tvoo; 9 
*' ev ©' ApYisvcMvvXiaisaiy(jAQii<jiv av^gwv. Find. Oiymp. 0. 13, 



[ *73 ] 

fcunlan duty ; and I cannot, in insulting language, resolve 
the sum and subltance of all government and civil society 
into " Laws proclaimed by Heralds, and expounded by 
" Curates," (c) 

Yet do I not speak professionally : I have no personal 
interference in the church, the law, or the state. But I 
speak again and again, with earnestness and with sincerity, 
from the mingled affections of regard, fear, and hope for 
us, (and I trust, we are the great majority) who yet 
remain firm, constant, and unshaken by such writers as 
these. I speak to all who have the courage, and learning, 
and ability to repress them, not by force, (God forbid !) 
but by reasoning, and by appeals to the understanding, 
and the social relations of their fellow creatures. I speak 
to all who can rescue them from the cold unfeeling tyranny 
of modern metaphysics, as exhibited in the new systems of 
government and manners, (religion they have none); and 
from nonsense which must at last be found impracticable, 
when every estate and condition of man has been overthrown. 
for their pleasure and experiment; that these new arbiters, 
or creators, of human destiny may introduce a government 
without principles, laws without mercy, and morality 
without a motive. 

The main point of rest to every empire is the principle 
on which voluntary and habitual obedience is paid to 
established authority. Half a century is insufficient for 
any new power or constitution to find it's level. It is 

indeed 

(c) See Godwin on Justice as above, vol. 2. p. 99. 
Heee ego non credam Fenmina digna lucernd f 
H&c Ego non agltem f 
gt: Juv, Sat. 1, v. 51, 



C m 1 

indeed matter of great patience, as well as of the deepest 
concern, to reasonable men, to observe what is stilt 
carrying on in this country in defiance of every evil which 
has been felt, and will long continue to be felt, from the 
introduction of new principles among other nations. For 
the sentence of final destruction seems to be now executing 
on the various governments of Europe. 

** Yes, I must weep for you, ye rival vales, 
" Arno and Andalusia ! but for thee 
** More largely, and with filial tears must weep, 
•• O Albion, O my country! Must thou join , 
*' In vain dissever' djrom the rest?* 

I trust not in vain, {d) Still the last dispensation of mercy 

is 

f „ — — •— " : '-' 

(d) Historical facts of ancient times are wholly inadequate 
to the illustration of the present great events; but some passages 
are not unworthy of attention. In the 256th year of Rome, 
when the Latins declared for Tarquin, the Conscript Fathers 
were not terrified, though all their Allies, the Rutuli, the Volsci, 
and other powers deserted them. The Senate was still bold, 
though Rome had rebellious subjects in the heart of the metro- 
polis, and the State and Constitution were preserved. 

There were men indeed who, like theTookes and Thelwalls 
pf our days, taught the people, " [xn Qikoyrppm sv ttoXsi ttwhvos 
•* avrois oeya&s (Asra&fowraj," and enforced all the popular ar- 
guments of revolt and sedition. I refer to the fifth Book of the 
Roman Antiquities of Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Sect. 63, 
which is curious and instructive. But one sentence of this 
neglected Historian is so singularly applicable to our own im- 
mediate circumstances (August 1797) that it may not be impro- 
per to insert it. It is from the 6z<\ Section of the 5th Book* 
*' Qufo* fa Fa&aiQi TaTTeniwQiVTeSi (6 waQm £Hco$ m ms (Msyocvrs 



[ 175 3 

m offered TO this island : and it is only to be deserved 
and continued to us by firmness, temperance, and piety, 
and by perseverance in the constitution, sacred and civil, 
which now is ; without daring to attempt any present 
innovation in theory or in practice. 

It is indeed by looking calmly, not as slaves or bigots, 
but as wise men, upon those imperfections, which human 
institutions never can prevent, nor wholly remove, that we 
may yet hope, under providence, to preserve for ourselves and 
for our posterity the blessings of cultivated society, in this 
awful and general convulsion of Europe. They are best 
secured to us by our present form of government and laws, 
which are just in their principle, temperate in their effects, 
impartial in their application, and merciful in their execution, 
and have the sanction of time, of wisdom, and of experience. 

In whatever shape French Philosophy may approach, 
however recommended, or dignified, or disguised, by scho- 
lars, or by ignorant and seditious men, in Greek, in Latin, 
in French, or in English, I would resist and repel 1 it. 
Whenever the machine appears before the walls, I shall 
never regard it as the gift of Minerva, but call aloud to try 
the temper and the substance of it, Jerro Argolieas Jadare 
latebras, to distrust the present, and to reject the ofTer. 
Let the enemy be dragged forth to light and shewn as ke is t 

and 

•' 9roXepiov avatpoi/^svoi*, xai UA2A2 AnEFNOKOTAS 
• s 2TMMAXIKA2 EAniAA2,)aXXa ro*s o^ms knequirt 

** 7TlCTTSVCrccVTES ^OVXiS, TioKXu TrpoQvfAOTEpQL TTpOf TQV AyOJVOi, 

*' eywoyrot to; ^ix tw avxyxriv av£ ( oc? uyaQoi napa, ras xtvSvvjs 
" ecropcsvQi, xoct sav xocrx vSv 7rp«|<w(n, rais ihaus apsraiz 
* xaTQpfywfGLVTSS TQV 7T»Xeptov, a^evi xoivwca^svoi rr,; oo^tjs.'* 

Pion. Halicarn. Rom, Hist, h, 5. S.6®. 



t ^ j 

and I will yet trust that the kingdom and the citadel maj^ 
stand. 

The third part of this poem opens with a playful 
subject, and it is treated as such. But as the poem advances, 
I must (to use a prophet's expression) " shew my dark 
" speech upon the harp ;" and must, now and then per- 
chance, strike the strings somewhat loudly, and descend 
into a more severe and a more solemn harmony. But 
what I esteem to be necessary, that I will declare; and what 
I feel it to be my duty to represent, that I will have the 
boldness to publish. Through the whole course of my life,, 
in every trying circumstance, and in every wayward event 3 
public and private, I have held fast the concise and strong 
admonition of the poet, 

Tu ne cede malis; sed contra audeniior ito % 
Quam tua te Fortuna sinet % 

My learning and researches, such as they are, I submit 
to scholars; my opinions, my labour, and my services, in 
the integrity of affection, I offer to my country; my 
errors and defects 1 leave to public reprehension, in a 
respectful silence. Whether men will hear, or whether 
they will not hear, is not strictly my personal concern; 
but my intention no man takethfromme* 



t *77 3 



THE 



PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



DIALOGUE THE THIRD.(a) 



"MccraioKoym tynyiM irpotszirrooro JLxXaSa (Maa-oiroXcfJV, wfar 



OCT A VI US. 

W hat then, shall none remain, to whom belongs 
The care of Attic bards, and Dorian songs? (<r) 
Shall England boast no more, in order'd clans, 
Her owls from Athens, and her Delian swans ? 

Is 

(a) First printed in May, 1796, 

(J>) Athenaei Deipnosophist: L. 14. p. 617. Ed, Casaub„ 

(c) The subject of Greek Literature is resumed. See the 
•onclusioti of the Second Dialogue, 

M 



I *78 ] 

Is no memorial left of ancient fame, 

No dirge funereal, nor one Grecian game f 

AUTHOR. 

There is: lo, learned ©letfeS in sable stole, 
Graceful in years, pant eager for the goal ! (a) 
Old Norb'ry (b) -starts, and with the seventh-form {c} 

boys 
In weeds of Greek the church-yard's peace annoys, 10 
With classic Weston, (cc) Charley Coote, andTew,{^) 
In dismal dance about the mournful yew. 

But 

(a) I allude to the rage for translating Gray's Elegy into 
Greek verse, by so many combatants for the prize, of whom 
more in the following notes. 

(£) The Reverend Doctor Norbury, late one of the assistants 
and now one of the fellows (or old boys) at Eton, published the 
first Greek translation of the Elegy. 

(c) In Eton School there are but six forms for the boys.— 
These Reverend Divines, it seems, have only taken one stcft 
since they left school. 

(cc) The Rev. Stephen Weston, a man of much inge- 
nuity, of great classical knowledge, and skill in various 
languages. 



c 179 i 

Bat first in notes Sicilian (e) plac'd on high; 
Bates sounds the soft preluding symphony 3 



And 



(d) Monsieur Peltier (Editor of the Tableau de Paris, &c.) 
favoured i with the following record and extract, which I 
give in his own French terms, as they are very significant and 
forcible. 

" Place de la. Traduction. 

<c Jean NorburYj Docteur en Theologie, Chanoine et 
" Associe a Eton, dge soixante et huit ans. 

" Etienne Weston, Bachelier en Theologie, Abbe, 
u Voyageur, Versificateur, ci devant Recteur. Age cinquante ans. 

" Charles Coote, * Docteur en Theologie, Doien Irian- 
" dois. Age cinquante et deux ans, selon le registre. 

" Edouard Tew, Bachelier en Theologie, Chanoine et 
" Associe a Eton. Jge cinquante et sept ans. 

, "Guillotines a. la Grecque, 25 Floreal Quintidi, 1796. 
" Ex trait du Registre de la Guillotine Liter aire" 

N. B. " lis sont montes sur V echaffaut avec assez de courage; 4 
** dix-heures et un quart du matin leurs tetes sont tomb is J" 

Extrait du Rapport fait au conseil des anciens, par 
l'Executeur de la haute justice literaire. 

* P, S. JVi recue une lettre tres obligeante de la part de 
Monsieur Peltier, dont j'ai la plus haute consideration, qui 
m'a informe, qu'il y a une petite meprise dans le Registre au 
sujet de Monsieur le Docteur Coote, Traducteur celebre* 
Qu*il n'etoit pas Doien Irlandois, Zc par consequent grand theo- 
logien, mais Docteur en Droit Civil en Angleterre, tres instruit 
danila grammaire Grecque, Monsieur Peltier avec le zele ie plus 

M 2 edifianl 



C 180 ] 

And in sad cadence, as the bands condense? 
The curfew tolls the knell of parting Sense. 

Nares 

{e) Notes Sicilian.— Joah Bates, Esq^ as an old Etonian, 
and once Fellow and Tutor of King's College, Cambridge, was 
so obliging as to offer himself as Musical Conductor on the occasion. 
Some persons may think, that the u notes Sicilian" allude to the 
Ap%eTE SixsXtx^i ra> ttevOco;, <zfX £TS Mwcra*:* but they are no 
musicians, if they think so. Mr. Bates's judgment naturally led 
him to adopt the Siciliana for this famous solemnity, as it is a 
movement dower and more marked than the Giga. While the 
Siciliana was playing, the combatants, before they entered the 
lists, approached the Critic's throne moving in a sort of mea- 
sured step. 

The Rev. Mr. Nar es, (editor of the British Critic, and in my 
estimation, and I believe in that of every Member of Lincoln's 
Inn, a gentleman of worth, learning and ability, and to whom 
not the slightest disrespect is here intended) was appointed the 
judge or BpxSev; on the occasion, and beheld them without 
emotion, though the sight was luxuriant in the extreme. 
O'er their warm cheeks, and rising bosoms move 
The bloom 'of young desire, and purple light of love! 

edifiant pour la verite, et avec beaucoup d'onction, m*a prie de 
torriger le rcgistre et la poesie la dessus; et m'a informe, que 
Monsieur Nares Auteur tres aimable en son genre, et editeur 
de l'ouvrage periodique, (The British Critic) Ja voulut aussi 
avec beaucoup d'empressement. Malheureusement e'est im- 
possible ; et j'ai repondu tres franchement : " Mon cher Pel- 
ic tier, quand une fois la tete doctorale est tombeej eh! que 
«< faire?" {Nov, 1797.) 

* Moschi Epif. in iBion, v. I, 



Nares (/) holds the prize, and stops the Doric din, 
Elmsley (g) without, and Rivington within; 
The volumes are arrang'd in order meet, 
And all their ears erect these accents greet : 20 

" Hail, 

Had the combatants been political personage*;, I would have 
described the whole game, and the characters; and their speeches 
in the poem. But I learned early from Cervantes the necessity 
of limitation and propriety in fiction; though this indeed is a, 
mere record of a matter of fact, , 

(f) I always admired the solemn irony, with which the 
Reviewers in. The British Critic treated this Grecian game among 
the old boys. It appeared to. me as if I saw their exercises 
holed over at Eton by Di\ Davies, who said, " Norbury, you 
" have done pretty well /" — " Tew, you had a few faults, but a 
*' little more spirit than Norbury ;" — •' Weston, you have trans- 
" lated with some elegance, but you have no authority for your 
" genitive ah solute ,"-—*' Master Coote, I think you have one 
<e false quantity, but it is a doubtful syllable, and I shall //oh 
" // this time.'''' It is something odd, that a Westminster man, 
(I mean Mr. Narcs 2 ) should be the Judge of these old Eton 
boys. . 

{g) Elmsley* and Rivington, two London booksellers, one 
famed for shrewdness, and the other for orthodoxy; very- 
proper 

* I know not why I should withhold the Testimonia Doctoium 
to Mr. Elmsley. To begin ; — " Mr. Elmsley, whose zeal for 
li his Author can never be sufficiently commended," &c.-~ 

M 3 $e*k 



[ i8a ] 

" Hail, my fond masters of the Grecian lyre ! 

€i Hear a Reviewer's verse yourselves inspire : 

<c These books are yours, (oh, heed my tuneful voice) 

*' Take 'em, or (/) damn 'em, as best suits your 

choice; 

" For 

proper assessors to the Critic. Mr. Elmsley was stationed 
at the door to keep the peace among the combatants, who were 
rather noisy and troublesome from their number. Afterwards 
Mr. Elmsley took his seat with the Critic. The place of the 
meeting was the celebrated Musical Room in Hanover Square." 
See a subsequent note. 

(i) Damn' em. — " This (word) is to be understood in a <very 
* { sober and decent sense." See Bishop Warburton's note on one 
of the concluding lines of Pope's Story of Sir Balaam, Moral 

Ep. 



See Mr. Bryant's Letter to Mr. Richardson at the end. Hear 
likewise Mr. Gibbon: " Je trouve dans le Libraire Elmsley, un 
*.' Conseiller sage, instruit, et discret." Mr. Gibbon to Mr, 
Deyverdun. Letters^ vol. 2. 4to. p. 596. Again: '* I was 
*' proud and hafifiy, if I could prevail on Elmsley, to enliven the 
" dullness of the evening." lb. p. 653. 

Booksellers of reputation have been always mentioned with 
respect; the Sosii by Horace, and Trypho by Quintilian : M& 
Tonson is recorded by a man of talents,* Mr. Becket by 
Sterne, Mr. Elmsley by Mr. Bryant and Mr. Gibbon, and 
finally by his humble servant, the Author of the Pursuits of 
Literature. 

* George Steevens, Esq, editor of Shakspeare, in his Preface 
to the Poet's works, a 






[ ila ] 

** For some are new, some foolish, and some old, 
" Some pert in calf, and some in sheets are bold. 

" Twelve British Critics, new or little read ; 
" Horsley's chaste sermon, (k) and his copper head ; 

" Letters 

Ep. 3. v. 401. Pope's Works, edit. Warb. 8vo. vol. 3. p. 269,- 
" The devil and the king divide the prize ;" 'which line the bishop 
with the utmost gravity declares to be " a satire only on such 
" ministers of state, which history informs us have been found, 
u who aided the devil in his temptations, in order to, &c. &c." 
See the remainder of the note. This it is to be a commentator 
on a mere badinage ! ! ! 

There certainly are books which may make a Reviewer or a 
Divine swear a little 5 and I readily excuse Mr. Nares (as I do Mr* 
Grubb in the farce) for being a little hasty in his expressions. 

Longinus (who gives excellent directions, in Jus treatise oil 
the sublime, for swearing to the best advantage) observes, 
'* Effriv a to Q7T<ycr8v nvtx. OMOSAI i^syx, ro $e ira, xcu #&;r, 
" xaci £<£' &v xsupcov, wxi rivos Ivsxa." De Subl. S. 1.6. The 
substance of which may be this ; " Swearing considered in 
" itself, and without reference to the matter and the manner, 
" is by no means an accomplishment, or a source of the sublime, 
6t and should never be introduced, but in the proper place and 
•' occasion, and then only upon the most urgent motives and 
" for the strongest reasons." From all which it appears, that 
discipline and instruction in this art are necessary, before a man 
can swear as a gentleman, a scholar, an orator, or a man of fa- 
shion. Therefore, no man should ever swear at random in con- 
versation. See the Rev. Dr. Longinus's Sermon, as above, in 
to-to j to which the Rev, Mr. Nares certainly paid due attention* 

M 4 



F 184 j 

** Letters from Alciphron (/) to cool love's flame, 
u And prove Greek whores and English just the same; 

" The 



(I) See his Sermon before the Magdalens, (in 4to) on April 
22, 1795. I wish the Bishop had put an appendix (as the 
fashion is) to explain a little of it, though in some places it is 
very intelligible. — For instance, in the following passage, page 6. 
ct Numberless and ravishing are the beauties which the mortal 
<c eye beholds, in the various works of creation and of art, 
€ < Elegant and of endless variety the entertainments which are 
*' provided for the ear. : whether it delight to listen to the sober 
" narratives of history, or the wild fictions of romance ; whether 
ct it hearken to the grave lessons of the moralist, to the abstruse 
" demonstrations of science, the round periods of eloquence, the 
€( sjirightly flourishes of rhetoric, the smooth numbers and bold 
■' flights of poetry, or catch the enchanting sounds of harmony j 
* 4 that poetry, which sings of (something) ; that harmony which 
t: fans (one thing) and iuafu (another) &c. &c." And as if the 
Bishop had net been plain enough, he begins again; " Infinite is 
«' the multitude of pleasurable forms which" do, as before: 
observed/ 

The reader will allow, he never before met with so much 
recondite truth, diversified with such beautiful and discrimi- 
nating epithets. The Bishop might as well have said \ " What 
" a charming place London is! what varieties and entertain' 
ei merits are provided for the eye and ear. First, there's the House 
*' of Lords, then, Westminster Abbey, then the Opera House 
u and the Play-house. There is Doctor Gillies who provides 
ai sober history, and Mrs. Smith, wild romance ; there is Mr. Pitt 
** with his round eloquence, and Mr. Erskine absolutely fainting 
** in sprightly flourishes j there are Scotchmen teaching grave 

i Jf morality. 



[ 1*5 ] 

i* The Hymns, that Taylor, (m) England's gentile 

priest, 
^ Sung spousal at fair Psyche's marriage feast ; 32 

" The 



*'• morality and Greek ; Dr, Hutton with abstruse demonstra- 
«' tions how all things made themselves ; there is Mr. Jerning- 
*' ham with his smooth numbers, and Doctor Tasker with his 
" bold flights ; Madame Banti at the Opera, and the little 
u children at the Foundling : there are, &c. &c. &c." 

All this might do well enough at a polite devotional lounge, 
at some fashionable warm chapel from a popular preacher ; but 
I am really ashamed that Bjshop Horsley should condescend 
to write, and pronounce ex cathedra, such trivial school-boy 
declamation about nothing at all, and then publish it. Men in 
high station and of high talents (like Bishop Horsley) should be 
careful, very careful, how they lessen themselves by their own 
words and works; and if Bishop Horsley goes on in this s\vle, 
and as he has done in several of his later productions, whatever 
his politics may be, he certainly never will incur the danger of 
The Second Philippic 

(/) Alciphron's Epistles; in which are described the domestic 
manners, the Courtesans and the Parasites of Greece; translated 
from the Greek, 

{m) Thomas Taylor, translator of Plotinus, parts of Plato, 
the fable of Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius, Hymns, &c, the 
would-be restorer of unintelligible mysticism and superstitious 
pagan nonsense. All that lamblichus revealed to yEdesius. 

Mr. 



[ i86 ] 

f The alphabet m Greek by R. P. Knight ; («) 
cc Some rules for men to think and study right ; 
" An Eton Foolscap, with the game of goose 
<i Printed by Pote, types large, and cover loose; 
<c An Education Sermon, rather long, 
" By Doctor Parr, all in the vulgar tongue; 
*' Last, Horsley's master-piece, (nn) and merry plans, 
ct To accent right the goods of courtezans. 40 

" Nor 



Mr. Taylor, in conjunction with Dr. Darwin, might solve the 
following problem : " Whether a Platonic idea, hovering to the 
44 right on the orifice of chaos, might drive away the squadrons 
** of democratical atoms f 9 Rabelais, at the end of book 5. 
Questions Philosophiques. For my own part I am not disposed to 
go any further, as Lycophron, Cassand, v. 14, expresses it, 
Ao%cuv e; hs$p$ns era/v. 

(«) An analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet, by R. P. 
Knight — P. may stand for Payne or Priapus Knight, in allusion 
to his Essay on the Worship of Priapus. 

(nn) See a Treatise on the Prosodies of the Greek and Latin 
Languages, dedicated to Lord Thurlow by (Bishop Horsley). 
I allude to the Bishop s pleasant comment ■, p. 47, so universally ad- 
mired, on the Attic Law, %rqupa y^pvaia, ei tyopoin, <$yi(ao<jix sgtoj* 
My gallantry forbids me to use any accents at all upon these ladies^ 
especially since the Bishop has shewn me, how dangerous it is to 

meddle 



[ *** 1 

€i Nor books alone attend the Conqueror Bard, 
cc Him shall await a more sublime reward : 
" Not the coarse joy a Grecian once could feel, 
" Apples (o) for sauce, or parsley for his veal, 

" Or 



meddle with them. In this short passage there are four per- 
sonages virtually concerned ; Alexander d/ihrodisiensis, Aristotle, 
"Venus, and Bishop (a) Horsley ! ! ! ! I assure his Lordship, I 
have as great an affection, as human infirmity can allow, for an 
Oxyton, a Paroxyton, or even a Pro-par-oxyton ! Ladies never 
before knew the political importance of an accent. 

While I am upon this Episcopal and Cyprian subject, I may 
observe that Proclus has a singular remark in his Chrestoma- 
thia, as preserved by Photius; Mvi8s tx Kuwpia, IIPOITAPO- 
" aTTONHS ETTiyqocQso-Qoci, to, nom^ra," (b) 

(o) Apples, &c. — There is now an affectation in modem young 
gentlemen, as soon as they have left school or college, particularly 
in young lawyers and boy-members of parliament, of forgetting 
their Greek, if they ever knew any. I shall therefore without 
ceremony remind them of the ancient rewards in the Grecian 

games, 

{a) I shall express my opinion of Bishop Horsley, as a writer, 
in the words of Erasmus; " Ex libris deprehendihominem esse 
" ardentis ingenii, varias lectionis, et multse memorise, alicubi 
** tamen majore copia quam delectu, ac dictione tumultuosa 
lt magis quam comfiosita." Erasm. Ep. 1 24 8. 

{b) Biblioth. pag. 984. ed, 1653- 



E 188 ] 

** Or beverage drawn from spruce, or mountain pines, 
tc With oil from Pisa's olive, when he dines; 
" No ode to praise the binding of his books ; (//) 
" No print from Sheffield of historic cooks, 
<c Of beauteous Gibbon's fair proportion'd shape, (q) 
" An old baboon, or foetus of an ape ; 50 

" No 



games, which consisted of some apples consecrated to *^poIlo 
fn the Pythian, of a chaplet of parsley in the Nemaean, of an, 
6?zve garland in the Olympic games, and of a wreath of pine* 
leaves in the Isthmian solemnity. 

(p) T am sure Pindar very seldom had so good a subject 
for his deep mouth. Mr. White of Fleet-streer, and Mr. Ed- 
wards of Fail-mall, booksellers, would furnish me with much 
better materials for an ode than Pindar's, in their florid descrip- 
tions (so animating to purchasers) of gorgeous binding, little 
Dr. Gosset's milk-sphife vellum, and all it's insignia. 

(q) See in the title page to the posthumous Works of Edward 
Gibbon, Esq. in 2 vol. 4to. published by Lord Sheffield, an 
engraving of The Historian of the Roman Empire, which 
his lordship declares to be " as complete a likeness of Mr. 
" Gibbon, as to person, face, and manner 3 as can be conceived." !t! 
I have no doubt of Lord S.'s friendship for Mr. Gibbon, but 
why hang up his friend in effigy to the ridicule of the present 
a<*e and of all posterity ? " Figuram animi magis quam corporis 

" com*. 



[ i8 9 ] 

f< No robe, that waves in many a Tuscan fold ; 
cc No lawn, that wraps a bishop from the cold ; 
" But fine broad cloth, in choicest fashion wrought, 
64 By modern hands to full perfection brought ; 

" Tis 



** complectantur,"* said Tacitus; and could Mr. Gibbon have 
seen this print, he certainly would have wished such a simula- 
crum <vultui as this, to be imbecillum et mart ale, or in plain English, 
to see the impressions burned and the plate broken. 

I just remind all collectors of prints, that there are robe had 
not only the heads of Dr. Gillies, and other historic cooks, of 
Dr. Denraan the man-midwife, of Mr. William Coxe, traveller 
and friend to half the crowned heads in Europe, with bis age zt 
the bottom of the print, and of other great personages ; but 
there are still left some choice proof impressions of the striking 
bead and likeness of rVir. John Farley, principal Cook at the 
London Tavern, to be purchased separate from his great culi- 
nary work, being all that were left unsubscribed for by the Lord 
Mayor and Court of Aldermen, by the East India and Bank 
Directors, and by Mr. Pitt and the Elder Brethren of the Trinity 
House. But I cannot ascertain ihe age of Mr. John Farley, 
which is a mater of the last importance, and for which I am 
truly sorry. The Homeric jucundity from Martial should have 
been the motto to our modern Mistyilus ; 

" Si tibi Mistyilus cocus, iEmiiiane, vocatur : 
*« Dicetur quare non T'ar a fallaf mini ? Mart. Ep 5 1. f. 

The 

■ v ■ ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ■ '" "' " Ll '' " " i i .. . . i 

* Tacit. Yit. Agric. Sect. 46. 
t hlisruhXQV rapa. r'csAX^, xt?v. Horn. II. passim. 



[ i 9 o ] 

€t J Tis His,— " to wear four Sundays in the Park (q) 
" The best black suit of Doctor Courtney's Clerk !"(r) 

Nares 



The reader of taste in print-collecting will thank me for re- 
minding him of Mr. John i arley's head, wnose works are more 
relished than any traveller's or historian's that I know, 

{^) Or in Kensington Gardens, if he pleases. 

(r) I informed my readers in a former note, that the scene 
of action was the celebrated Musical Room in Hanover Square, 
I must now add, that the room was decorated on the occasion 
with appropriate scenery, laid out in belts and clumps of funereal 
trees, to represent a church-yard with the belfry, the yew tree, 
not forgetting the owl, with distant views of groups of labourers, 
and cattle returning home by moonlight, highly picturesque. 
This was the scene of the famed solemnity, where Mr. Nares, 
with his assessors Messrs. Elmsley and Rivington booksellers, 
and the combatants, the Doctors Norbury, Coote, &c. assembled. 

Dr. Courtney, rhen Bishop of * Bristol, now of Exeter, 
and Rector of St. George's Hanover square, was very 
kind on the occasion, as the decision was made in his 
parish ; and with the consent of the Parish Clerk, made 
a liberal and voluntary offer of " The Sunday Suit+" 

furnished 

* Doctor Courtney was then on the eve of a translation to 
Exeter. (Jam 12, 1797.)—! also wish the Bishop health to wear 
bis own lest black suit, as well as another old Eton acquaintance, 
Bishop Cornwall, his successor. 

f They who are acquainted with the dignity and magnificent 
deportment of Dr. Courtney's present Clerk of St. George's 

Church, 



[ i9i 1 

NAREsrisingpaus'd; then gave (the contest done,) 
To Weston, Taylor's Hymns, and Alciphron, 
And Rochester's (j) address to lemans (ss) loose ; 
To Tew, Parr's sermon, and the game of goose ; 
To Coote, the foolscap, as the best relief 
A Dean could hope; last to the hoary Chief 6z 

Hefiird a cup ; then plac'd on Norb'ry's back 
The Sunday suit (t) of customary black! (//) 

The 

furnished at theexpence of the parish, and which, I understand, 
is worn by the Clerk during divine service in the morning only 
on that day, and is very becoming. After the morning service 
the parish clerk appears in his ordinary dress, as a common 
man. Such was the Eccesiastical suit of armour made by the 
episcopal taylor, and hung upas the Conqueror's prize (not 
pleno jure, but usufructuario,) for the iEneas of the Sunday, 

(s) Not Lord Rochester, but my good Lord Bishop of 
Rochester, Bishop Horsley's Address or Sermon to the Mag- 
dalens, mentioned above ; not forgetting his Lordship's Greek 
prosody for Lord Thurlow and the ladies. 

(ss) Leman is the old word for a lover, or a mistress." 

Church, Hanover Square, when in his full canonical Sunday 
dress, will best know how to estimate, the prize offered to these 
Grecian combatants by Mr. Nares. Too happy ! if, in such a 
garment, the Victor might be mistaken for this great 

UAH, (1796.) 



[ *9 2 1 

The gabbling ceas'd : with fix'd and serious look 
Gray glanc'd from highland own'dhis rival, Cook.(t> ) 

OCTAVIUS. 

(/) All my Eton friends well know Dr. Norbury's celebrated 
black wardrobe, and the Suits which appear in the order of the 
Pythagoric rotation from the chest or ark. 

" Supera utconvexa fevisant, 
" Rursus et incipiant in corpora <velk revirti V r 

With what propriety did the Reverend Mr. Nares make and pro* 
nounce this famous decree ! (1796) 

(tt) I must transcribe the concluding sentence of the Review 
of these celebrated translations, in the British Critic for 
March 1795. p. 245. I give the Critic the fullest credit for 
the conduct of this solemn irony, and confess that I can con- 
ceive nothing superior in this species of wit, namely, that of 
looking gravely in men's faces and telling them how foolish they 
are. 

The British Critic thus concludes : « 4 We wish to 
• 4 avoid any invidious distinction, any undue preference. But 
" were we absolutely called on to decide, we should from the 
*' purest and most unbiassed motives (see 11. 23. v. 615) fill 
•* the golden cup with the most exquisite oivos - Euros', and not 
M considering it as left without a claimant, by the fall of any 
•* Bumelus, we should respectfully place it in the hands of the 
44 Etonian Nestor; 

" T73 vuv, ycai (rot r«ro, TEPON, xei^yiXiov sera. 1 * 

(<&>) I select this extraordinary genius, poet, critic, scholar, 
and orator, William Cook, m. a. late Fellow of King's 
College, and Greek Professor in «he University of Cambridge. 
* 4 I knew nun well, Horatio," melioribus olim auspiciis. I select 

km 



t 193 3 



OCTAVIUS, 

Contract your smile,and quit this playful (#) search ; 

These 

him, as well for the singular and original excellency of his 
performance, (though there are some oversights and even verbal 
faults in it) as for the manner in which he published it. There 
was a spare leaf or two at the end of his very sensible edition of 
Aristotle's Poetics, and there he printed it ; not in the pompous 
manner, and with dedications to Lord Chancellors and I know 
not whom, as some of these Old Boys have done. I must own 
that in many passages, Nature, Gray, and Cook seem to con- 
tend for the mastery ; but above all in that great stanza ; 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r, 
** And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
** Await alike the inevitable hour ; 

" The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

Gray, 

A %ocpis svysvzcov, X a P ls r ' £«0"iW$os- ap%/x,s, 
Acopoc rvftocs, y^pvaoi^ A.'Ppo^irocq ytaXac roc <$copa 
n«vQ' 0LiA.cc tocvtol raQvaxs^ kxi n\Qev fAOpCllAOV a[A,0lp. 
Upcooj)/ xXs' oXojXs, xa; cjyjro [a] ^uvov £<; Actav. CoOK.» 

N Bion. 

« ■■ — — 1 ,, - „ . . ,., , 

(a) Some persons object to the being made short before the 
£. It may be so. I defend no faults, in any man's v/ork. I 
leave Dr. Davies and Mr. Stephen Weston, the Hero of the Geni- 
tive absolute, to substitute xojvov if they please, 

" The rule is absolute" Lord Kenyon cries 5 
*J Brisk from his genitive let Stephen rise*" 



t *94 3 

These are the lay amusements of the church 



Mere 



Eion or Moschus never exceeded these lines : I think, they never 
equalled them. I write this Note, I will confess it, with all the 
friendly fondness which an Etonian could express. 

HOC JlJVENEM EGEEGIUM PRjESTANTI MUKERE DONO. (b) 

(x) This subject from v. I. to v. 63. of this part of my poem, 
is perhaps in itself a very trifling one. The names of some of 
the parties are obscure and of little note, and the concerns of 
Reviewers should in general be confined to their own little blue 
books. But this example is of deepest consequence; that men, 
who aspire to be thought scholars, should be warned, even to all 
posterity, how they conduct their learning, and expend their 
time; and be taught from this ridiculous instance (which I have 
selected) to value themselves on such attainments alone, as are 
truly valuable. 'Ore ygyova ANHP, Kampyrixcx. t& t« N'/ittih. 

It cannot surely be conceived, that the slightest animadversion 
is here intended to be made on the exercises in the Greek and 
Latin languages, whether translations or originals, in the public 
cr private schools, or in the Universities of this kingdom. The 
author of the P. of L. is of opinion, that the utility or rather the 
absolute necessity of them is so great and so indispensable, that 
they cannot be too much commended, and too much encouraged. 
I will also say, that notwithstanding the accurate and unrelenting 
severity of Dr. Charles Burney's most learned and acute criticism 
on Mr. Glasse's Greek Translations of Milton's Sampson 
Agonistes and Mason's Caractacus, I still continue to admire the 
poetical and animated spirit, so conspicuous in that very ingenious 
Gentleman's bold and laudable attempt at an early period of life* 

There 

(b) Vir. ^n.4. v. 36 x. 



t m 1 

Mere cobweb labours of their learned thought; 
Though sometimes teachers must themselves be 

taught 
To weigh their office, raise their pow'rful breathy 
"Nor leave the world to darkness and to $eath. 72 

Short 



There were some mistakes; how could it be otherwise ? Plura 
intent. The composition entitled (Bcrikotros 1,q£icc, by the late 
Dr. Cook, Provost of King's College, published when he was 
almost a boy, has peculiar merit. 

I will add here, that if 'any young man of genius, classical 
learning, and poetical ardour, would present the world with a 
Greek translation of Akenside's " Hymn to the Naiads," and 
submit it to the correction of an experienced Greek scholar 
before publication, he might establish a learned and honourable 
reputation for himself, and add another composition worthy of 
Homer or Callimachus. 

" Sic Uceat magnas Graiorum implere catenas ! M 
Compositions in Greek or Latin handed about in private 
circles of friends are indeed useless, but free from much 
reprehension, though at best rather idle in men of a certain age. 
But when men, dignified by their years and their sacred 
profession, the youngest having passed his fiftieth, and the eldest 
entering his sixty eighth year, appear as rival candidates for pub- 
lic fame from the translation ef some excellent English verses 
into their own Greek ; what can we say ? 

I* Tunc cum ad caniticm^ tunc, tunc, ignoscere — Nolo." 

(1796.) Persius, 

U 2 



E 196 ] 

Short be their folly : let example tell 
Their life, their morals pure, and all is well. 

But should proud churchmen vie in sumptuous, 
halls, 
In wines and soups, Carthusian Bacchanals, 
Nor think th' unwieldy superflux to shake, 
Where curates starve, and helpless orphans quake ; 
Wav'ring I ask, in this dark scene beneath, 
Why lightnings scathe yon desolated heath? (y) 

And 



(y) The unbounded luxury and extravagance of the French 
and Italian Ecclesiatics should be a warning to the priests and 
ministers of all Christian altars, however dignified or distin- 
guished, of whatever church or of whatever persuasion. 
Mankind will know, and value them by their fruits, " For now 
" is the axe laid to- the root of the trees, and every tree 
" which hringeth not forth good fruit will (most assuredly) he hewn 
u down:" 

This is the warning voice which should be heard, and heard 
aloud in assemblies frequent and full, in all churches and in all 
cathedrals; bat chief in those twin-sisters of learning, the 
Universities of England, Oxford and Cambridge, which can be 
supported on those principles alone, on which they were founded, 
and hy which they have flourished. — While your place may yet be 
founds I will honour and will hail you both, 

" Mothers 



[ *97 3 

And hark the voice has thunder'd : and the word* 
Borne on the blast, a trembling world has heard 8z 
In consummation dread! the bonds of Rome 
Are burst, and Babylon's prophetic doom, 
With more than mortal ruin headlong cast, 
Proclaims the measure full : she groans her last! 
From climes where Piety no more was found, 
Where Superstition wither'd all around, 
The rights of nature barr'd, by heav'n resign'd 
To vile affections, in corruption blind, 90 

While, in the terrors of the world beneath, 
Permitted fiends of darkness round them breathe; 
Britain securely fix'd, invites from high 
With charity's sedate unalter'd eye. 

The 



" Mothers of arts 
" And eloquence, native to famous wits, 
" Or hospitable in your sweet recess, 
u City or suburban, studious walks and shades!* 

Bat chief with pious gratitude, and with filial reverence, Saht, 
^iagna Parens ! (1796.) 

* Milt. P. Reg. b. 4, v. 240* 
N 3 



[ i 9 8 ] 

The sacred, exil'd, melancholy band, 

Passing from death and France, revere the land, 

Where streams of inexhausted bounty pour, 

And Christ still reigns, and bigots are no more, (z) 

AUTHOR. 

Blest be the voice of mercy, and the hand 
Stretch'd o'er affliction's wounds with healing bland 5 
In holiest sympathy ! our best of man 
Gave us to tears, ere misery began. ioz 

Yet pause : " for mere (zz) Good-nature (a) is ^ 
" fool," 
Now slave to party, and now faction's tool 3 

Attend 

(z) I allude to the grand emigration of French priests and 
others to England, at the late Revolution in France. (1796.) 

(zz) We must remember, that the very frame and spirit of 
the laws, ordinances, and constitution of England are in the most 
direct opposition to the Roman Catholic religion^ and all it's doctrines, 
practices, opinions, superstitions, and tyranny, I am astonished 
that we can forget their history and effects; I know what has 
been done in other countries. The only hospitable and unsus- 
pecting 



[ *99 ] 

Attend, nor heedless slight a poet's name: 
Poet and prophet once were deem'd the same. 

Say, are these fertile streams thus largely spread, 
A filial tribute o'er a mother bed ? 
Say, are these streams (think, while avails the thought) 
To Rome through Gallic channels subtly brought t(aa) 

Rome 

pecting asylum for their priests and professors has been, and is,' 
in England. On their expulsion from the continent, and their 
reception in this kingdom, under powerful protection and sys- 
tematic influence, a warning voice may be heard, not without 
effect. This is the sole reason of all which I am about to offer 
on this subject. It is not an anathema, but a warning in the 
spirit of mercy, moderation, and the most reflecting policy. 

We may depend upon it, wherever the Roman Catholic 
Religion is introduced, or permitted, or fostered, or pitied^ or 
encouraged, the words of the poet will be found eminently true; 
Spiritus intus alzt 9 totamque infusa per artus 
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet. 

{a) u Virtue (for mere good-nature is a fool) 
" Is sense and spirit with humanity : 
" Virtue and sense I mean not to disjoin, 
V Virtue and tense are one." 
Dr. Armstrong, Art of Health, B. 4. a Poem which can never be 
sufficiently praised, read, and recommended. 

(aa) This is one of the most important points in the present 
situation of England and of Europe, in regard to national policy. 
J propose these questions. 

N4 1. How 



[ 200 ] 

Rome touches, tastes, and takes; and nothing loth: 
But have we virtues ? yes, offiagan growth, [a) nz 
Ask, where Rome's church is founded? on a steep, 
Which heresy's wild winds in vain may sweep; 

Alone 

i. How far, are the ministers of the public treasure of any 
protestant kingdom justified in issuing large sums of money, for 
the express purpose of maintaining emigrant Roman Catholic 
Priests, as a body ? 

a. If they are justified in issuing any sums, in what manner and 
under what control should this public money be expended and 
distributed ? 

3. Whether in England at this time, there are not some peculiar and 
paramount considerations, which call for wisdom and prudence to 
regulate, and restrain the first natural and honourable impetuosity 
of mercy and humanity, to the end that thh constitution of 
England, in her church and state, be preserved inviolate 
from open attacks, or from insidious attempts ? 

These questions are proposed for the public security, with so- 
briety, seriousness, and charity to all, as of common importance, 

Dixerat Anchises ; natumque unaque Sibyliam 
Con<ventus trahit in medios, turharnque sonantem \ 
Et tumulum capit, unde omnes longo or dine possit 
Advsnos legere, et <uenientum discere <vultus ! 

(1796.) 

{a) It is well known that rigid Catholics hold, that the virtues 
of heretics, or protestants, are to be considered in the light of 
pagan virtues. I think the bishop of St. Pol de Leon would agree 
to this opinion. ( 1 796.) 






[ 201 ] 

'Alone where sinners ma)' have rest secure, 

One only underlie, one only pure. 

Blame you her cumbrous pomp, her iron rod, 

Or trumpery relics of her saints half-shod ? 

Lo Confessors, in every hamlet found, 

With sacred sisters walk their cloister'd round : 120 

There, read the list (b) : and calm the fate expect, 

When crafty, meddling, thankless priests direct. 

Think 



(h) See " The Laity's Directory/^ 1796," (printed for 
J. P. Coghlan, Duke street, Grosvenor square) to which is 
added, * f The Colours of the Church;" words rather 
ominous. It is a pamphlet at the low price of sixpence, which I 
recommend to public notice, and to which I refer the reader. 

It is a matter of some surprise and concern, to read the list of 
the almost incredible number of little books and tracts at the 
smallest prices, published and to be published, calculated for the 
general dissemination 0/PoPERY in these realms: But it is a matter 
of very great concern indeed to see the fatal display of ah the 
existing and rising Romish seminaries, Romish hoarding houses, 
and Romish schools for youth; the plenary indulgences (for 
one another ;) and the settlement of Nuns Professed 'in monasteries 
erected in this kingdom, Clares, Benedictines, Sepulcharins, 
Austins, and Dominicanesses. Then, in this very same 
pamphlet, as if by a strange fatality, and in the blunder 
of papal metaphor, they advertise even their drugs. The very 
pedicine, it seems, is papal. Behold their " Laxative sulphurated 



[ 202 ] 

Think you, their hate unquench'd can e'er expire ? 
The torch not tipt with sleeping sulph'r ous fire ? 
Their doctrines round a careless land are blown; 
They blast the cottage, and would sap the throne. 
What ? are my words too warm ? — I love my King* 
My Country, and my God ! the sounds shall ring 

Ceaseless* 

€t pills, 5 ' once exhibited m another form in these realms. " The 
" medicated Snuff," a Cephalic of many virtues, prepared from 
til? original receipt found in the Jesuit's Library ; " The Jesuit's 
* 4 nervous pill, — «The Jesuit's Balsamic cordial." In short, 
" decernunt quodcunque volunt de corpore nostroj" body 
and soul, fortune and state. 

I understand them but too well. They know their hour> 
their Protectors of noble rank, their opportunity, their 
advantages, and their revenue from the state. They advance by 
approaches, not desultory, but regular. The papal genius 
never sleeps, no, not for a moment ; but directs, and animates, 
and acts, uniformly and constantly, at home and abroad, in 
cities, in towns, in villages ; it takes aid from stupidity and from 
ability, from above and from beneath. Their bishops, as yet s 
are but titular, but depend upon it, 

Per solis radios, Tarpeiaque fulmina juranr, 
Quidquid habent telorum armamentaria caeli.* 

Depend upon it, I say, they swear : but what the oath is, I shall 
not take upon me to describe ; though it may be well under- 
stood, and for ought I know, it is already registered. 

I have 
* Juv. Sat. 13. v. 780 



I 2 °$ 1 

Ceaseless, till Pitt (with all his host awake) 
In our great cause a Nation's inquest take. 130 

Look 



I have compassion for the unfortunate ; I have chanty for 
plundered exiles; I have pity, and would give relief to the 
wretched and the suffering ; I have veneration for the truly 
pious of every persuasion in the Christian faith. " There is 
" one Lord 1" But I have, and it is an Englishman's duty to 
have, a watchful eye upon the insinuating or domineering spirit 
of the Romish church. I have no opinion of the sincerity of 
their attachment to us, or of their gratitude for our favours. I 
insist upon it, they regard themselves as the original and 
rightful inheritors o/our land, 

I call upon the guardians of our Church and State to be 
watchful, and to regard with attention the proceedings of all 
the emigrants. If they refuse to hear, I wish most fervently, 
that Great Britain may never, in the anguish of an inconsiderate 
spirit, say of these numerous emigrant priests, and of all the rest; 
gacred or profane : 

Ejeetos littore, egenos 
Except, et regni demens in parte loca<vi! 

I send this note into the world, whatever be it's fate, with. 
the famous papal inscription, but without the spirit, of Sixtus 
the Fourth to the Florentine Synod under Lorenzo the Magni- 
jlicent, " In Futuram eei memosjam!" and the Bishop of 
St. Pol de Leon, and his Consistory, resident and acting in 
England, may reply to if, if they think proper. — (Written ia 
the 'year 1796.) 



t 204 } 

Look from that vale, wnat tribes the fortress (c) fill ! 
Then frown indignant o'er the opprobrious HilL (d) 

OCTAVIUS. 

(c) The Great College of Romish Priests, and the 
Head Quarters of the Cath®lic Cause in the Castle or 
jE*#g'i Bouse at Winchester, tenanted by priests emigrant and 
«(9.-?-emig- ant, publicly maintained at the expence of the staie\ Read 
the preceding note. 

I am not speaking to those, who are indifferent about all or 
any reHgion ; but to those, who from their station, political or 
sacred should understand the importance of the cause, the 
interests of Christianity and it ? s parity, the evidence of history, 
the nature and the essential and unaltered spirit of the Romish 
priesthood, and their subtiity and peculiar arts by persuasion ? or 
By terror over weak consciences. 

I am speaking to the governors of Great Britain, to the ministers 
of the crown, who should guard, and who J trust will guard* 
against the revival of the Romish Church now working in secret ; 
as well as against the more open and more terrible democracy of 
some descriptions of the Dissenters. What is said to us all, is said 
at this hour to ministers and rulers of states with a more important 
snd a mere sacred emphasis, " Watch, for je know not the 
" hour when destruction cometh." (1796.) 

id) Finally : I propose one plain and significant question to 
Sir. Pitt, or to any great minister of state. It is this: 

Is there a single instance in the records of any modern history 
of Europe, where the governing and directing power of the 
state ever authorised, patronised, and supported with the public 
money, under any circumstances whatsoever, a college of 
priests, in the heart of a kingdom, whose tenets and principles 
were not only different from the established religion of the 
country, but were in direct opposition and avowed hostility to 

it J 









[ 20 5 ] 



OCTAVIUS, 



These thoughts are for the state ! enough 

of Rome, 
Her Gallic altars, and approaching doom. 
But if from themes so grave (e) you never roam, 

Ask 

it ? And most particularly, 'when it was the original and 
fundamental purpose and constitution of that established 
Church, to discountenance and extinguish the superstitious 
doctrines, and the political ecclesiastical tenets of that College 
of Priest s, so authorized, patronised, and supported by the 
public money, as a eody ? 

If this question must be answered, as I apprehend it must, in 
the negative, I maintain, (and if necessary will maintain more 
solemnly, if possible, and more at large,) that the College 
of Priests in the King's House at Winchester should 
be immediately dispersed,* and not suffered to stand in that 
offensive, conspicuous, and opprobrious light in the face of the 
country. 

I am really speaking in mercy to them, and to us all, if I am 
rightly understood. I would support and preserve them from ever/ 
want, privately, and in detached situations ; but I --would not suffer 
the ministry of a Catholic Bishop to direct the expenditure of that 
public money so granted,/^ mere Catholic purposes : but with the 
most perfect toleration of all persuasions in religion, the Go- 
vernors of the State should defend and exclusively support 
thsir e<wa. This is prudence, this is policy, this it is to remem- 
ber 
* This was effected in December 1796. 



[ 206 ] 

Ask at St. Paul's, is Pretyman (ee) at home? 



The 



ber the beginning and progress of all great events.* (May, 
1796.) 

(e) I am not in the habit of perusing many of the various 
single sermons which are published; but I cannot resist the 
opportunity of recommending three, which I think are at this 
time important, and written with ability and spirit. One, by the 
Rev. Dr. Vincent, head master of Westminster school, (a gentle- 
man of very considerable erudition, diligence, ability, and most 
exemplary conduct) preached for the Westminster Dispensary ; 
another by Dr. Watson, bishop of Landaff, for the Westminster 
Dispensary also, with an Appendix, "containing Reflexions on 
the present state of England and France; the Appendix is of 
peculiar merit ; and a third, " On Gaming," written with great 
energy, erudition, piety, patriotism, and eloquence, by the Rev. 
Thomas Rennel, D. D. prebendary of Winchester. 

While I am speaking on this subject, I think, it may be 

curious and pleasing, and perhaps useful to some persons, to see 

the list of books which William Warburton, Bishop of 

Gloucester, recommended in some posthumous MSS. Directions 

for the study of Theology, and which Bishop Hurd published in 

the 4to. edition and intheSvo. supplement to his works. I refer 

to the tract, and merely give the books in the divisions, and in 

the oraer in which Warburton placed them, and recommended 

them to be read. 

" Locke 



* Though the French priests were removed, by order of the 
Government, from the King's House at Winchester, at the close 
of the year f 706, yet I have strong and important reasons for 
ie his whole passage, m poetry and prose, text and com- 

ment, unaltered upon record to posterity* 



[ 20 7 3 

The Dean might smile, when you with happiest care 

Blend 



" Locke on the Human Understanding: Quintilian's Institu- 
*' tions, — Grotius de Jure belli et pacis ; Wooilaston's Religion 
" of Nature; Cumberland on the Law of Nature; Cud worth's 
** Intellectual System.— Maimonides Ductor Dubitantium ; 
•' Spencer de Legibus Kebraeorum Rituaiibus; Walton's Poly- 
*' glot Bible; Critici Sacri. Locke's Reasonableness of Chris- 
" tianity ; Burnet de fide et officiis Christianorurn ; Grotius's 
<e Comment on the Gospels; Locke on the Epistles; Joseph 
" Mede on the Apocalypse ; Episcopii Instituta Christianas 
" Theologian; Limborch's Theologia Christiana; Grotius de 
" Veritate Religionis Christianas ; Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrs, 
** ist ed. Limborch de Veritate Religionis Christianas Arnica 
*' Collatio cum Erudito Judaeo, i.e. Isaaco Orobio; Chilling- 
" worth's Religion of Protestants, a safe Vvay to salvation; 
" Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, 4 first books. Taylor's Liberty 
" of Prophecying; Stillingfleet's Irenicum ; Locke's Letters on 
" Toleration ; Bayle's Comment on the Words *' Compel them 
c< to come in." — Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History; Collier's 
l< Church History; Fuller's Church History; Sleidan Commen- 
" tarii de statu Religionis et Reipublicae Carolo Qiiinto Ciesare 
"■ Commentarii; Burnett's History of the Reformation; Dr. 
*' Clarke's Sermons; Dr. Barrow's Sermons; Sermons du Pere 
*« Bourdaloue." 

The Second Part of these directions could not be found; but 
it may surprise some people to hear, that Bishop Warburton's 
vigorous intellect regarded this plan, but as an introduction to the 
study of Theology. Hac iimina Victor Alcides subiit ! 
Through such a vestibule did this High Priest pass into the 

jTEMPLE. 

But 



[ 20S ] 

Blend -Horsley's acid with the cream of Blair; 

You'd rise at last. 

AUTHOR. 

But if the reader is disposed to attend to the humbler sug- 
gestions of a very private layman on this subject, I think he 
would find great advantage in studying and considering the 
following works in English, (which are very few in number,) 
and in the order in which they are arranged, i. The View of 
the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion, by Soame 
Jenyn?, Esq. 2, The Evidences of Christianity, in three parts, 
by W. Paley, D. D. 3. Grotius on the Truth of the Christian 
Religion, in any translation. 4, The Evidences of Natural 
and Revealed Religion, by Dr. Samuel Clarke. 5. Mr. 
Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity, particularly the latter 
part of the trace. 6. Bishop Hurd's Introduction to the Study 
of the Prophecies. 7. Lcrd Lyttleton's Dissertation on the Con- 
version of St. Paul and 8. Dr. Butler's Analogy of Religion, 
Natural and Revealed, to the constitution and course of nature. 

From these Je<w volumes, if they are studied with care and 
an upright intention, I think it may be said, that They 
•' shall see, to whom he was not (before) spoken of; and 
'* they that have not (before) heard, shall understand." These 
volumes are the works of laymen as well as of divines; and if I 
am not mistaken, I think I perceive the following connection 
in the short plan which J have offered. 

1. Mr. Jenyns's View prepares the mind to think worthily 
of the Religion which is proposed, and demonstrates that there is 
the highest reason to believe and conclude, that it's origin is from 
above, and not from man. 1. Dr. Paley's View of the subject 
displays, confirms, and establishes the direct historical evidence 
and proof, with all the plainness" and candour of which it is 
capable, and independent of the particular tenets of<z/y church or 
sect. 3 and 4. Grotius and Dr Clarke present to us.the faith, 
doctrine, and evidence in the form of propositions, with ample 

and 



C 209 3 

AUTHOR, 

How strangely you mistake ; 
The dream deceives not, when the 'man's awakeJ 

Once 



and learned illustrations, with force of reasoning, and with 
logical precision. 5. Mr. Locke has been peculiarly happy in 
representing the consonance of the Christian doctrine to reason 
properly understood, and it's necessity from the defects of all 
philosophy however distinguished. 6. Bishop Hurd, with the 
hand of a master, has opened the general View of the subject 
of prophecy, and freed it from the intricacies of speculation, and 
shewn it's time, nature, end, and intent. 7. Lord Lyttleton" 
has discussed the most illustrious instance of the conversion ta 
this religion, in the person of St. Paul, a man of the highest 
natural talents, and of the profoundest reasoning and erudition ; 
and he has accompanied the whole with remarks of weight 
and dignity on the general subject of Revelation. 8. And last, 
to a mind disposed to view with calmness, humility and reve- 
rence, the whole system of Providence, as far as it is permitted 
to man to view " the work which God worketh from 

46 THE BEGINNING TO THE END," Dr. BuTLER has Unfolded 

the Analogy or relation of the Course of Nature to Religion^ 
by which all things are found to proceed in harmony from Him 
who hath made nothing imperfect. I think this great per- 
formance of Butler has peculiar force when it is considered 
in the conclusion of our religious researches, and not as 
part of the original proof; or as Lord JBa,con expresses himself, 

Q 'J tanquam 



£ 210 3 

Once in the morn of life, a wizard said • 
" He ne'er shall rise by benefice or trade; 142 

" But find, remote from consequence or fame, 
" A local something, and a shadowy name; 
" Shall brave neglect ; in England's cause contend $ 
<c Hopeless himself of virtue, but her friend: 
" Through crowds shall mark his solitary way, 
" Ardent, though secret, and though serious, gay; 

" Erect, 



fi tanquam portum et sabbathum humanarum contemplatiommt 
u omnium." (a) 

I speak merely my own sentiments to those who have not 
much time or leisure for deep study, (but we are all bound to 
find some time for this subject,) and I speak in submission to 
scholars better informed than myself. 

Reader, whoever thou art, if thou shouldest approve these 
introductory ideas to this great subject, inexhausted as it is and 
inexhaustible, prepare thyself, thy understanding, and thy 
affections. " Te quoque dignum finge Deo !" 

(ee) The Rt. Rev. George Pretyman, D. D. Bishop of Lin- 
coln and Dean of St. Paul's j Tutor and Secretary to the Rt. 
Hon. William Pitt, before he was raised to the Prelacy. He 
is a man of great learning, discernment, and ability; his wri. 
tings are. in my opinion, distinguished by singular temper and 
moderation, by accuracy and a clear perception of the subject 
he is treating, and by a zeal according to knowledge. 

{a) De Augm, Sciejit. L. 3. ap. init, 



C «« 3 

€6 Erect, Without a pension, to his end 
« c Unknown, unheard, unhonour'd, shall descend « 
<c Bow to no minister for golden views, 151 

" His portion, Memory, and best gift, the Muse/* 



OGTAVIUS, 



This of yourself? 

AUTHOR. % 

'Tis so. 

©CTAVIUS. 

You're turned plain fool : 
A vain* pert prater, bred in (/) Erskine's sch<*l | 
Talk of yourself? 

AUTHOR, 

(f) The lion. ThorriSls Erskine, the celebrated Barrister. For 
a further account of his talents, abilities, legal knowledge, &c, 
see ani ask— #Tr, Erskine jrt jmselp. (See also P. of L. Dial, 4,) 

O a 



C 212 ] 

AUTHOR. 

Why yes ; I would be heard I 
Mere talkers now, not writers, are preferred. 
Look at that paper : (g) if yon print the speeches? 
Pitt seems George Rose, or like Sir Richard preaches, 
Nor tone, nor majesty, nor patriot fires; 
Methinks the wit of Sheridan expires - 9 16© 

Lost in Dundas the Caledonian twang, 
Though Pitt, and Port, and Property he sangj 
Print negro speeches, and in reason's spite, 
Lo, Wilberforce is black, and Francis, white. 
Who wonders at buffoons, or Courtney *s joke ? 
And we scarce slumber, though Sir William spoke s 
*Tis Grey and grumbling, Curwen (k) all and clatter, 
And Dent (/) and Dogs, and Pewter(£)pot and platter. 

Shall 

(g) Any newspaper or report of the Debates in Parliament. 

(h) All the changes rung upon feudality, tyranny, and I 
know not what, when the Game Laws were discussed at the* 
close of the last parliament, April 1796, on the motion of Mr. 
Curwen, 



C 2I 3 3 

Shall I not talk ?-— Few politics will read, 169 
Tho' Lauderdale should sketch his Scottish creed; (/) 

Though 



{/) Alluding to the long debates on the Dog and Bitch bill, 
brought into parliament in 1796, by Mr. Dent. The bill is a 
little allegorical, sometimes unintelligible, and often ludicrous. 
For instance ; I shall not look to Mr. Pitt or Mr. Wilberforce 
for an explanation of the following clause in it; namely, " Pro- 
u vided. always, that no person 'who shall keep, a&y bitch, 
" whelp, &c, shall be charged with the payment of the said sum, 

" until such bitch, &c. shall be of the age of ' ." * Sect. 2. 

Certainly the bill is allegorical, and the Keepers of Bitches, 
&c. complain, that they had taxes enough to pay for them before. 
Mr. Fox objected to it in the H. of C; so did Lord William 
Gordon, and many other respectable and playful members; but 
in the H. of L. the Duke of Queensbury said, " It did not muck 
lt signify ." 

If Mr. Pitt means that taxes should be an object of wit, I shall 
soon expect to hear Mr. Sheridan, in the House, call the District 
of Downing street, " TJbe Borgo Allegro." ( 1 796.) 

(k) This is another curious subject brought into the House 
in April 1796, and shews that Mr. Fox has eloquence of all 
materials and of all metals. Gold, for his pension ; brass for 
his opinions ; and pewter for his constituents, 

(J) See the Earl of Lauderdale's Letters to the Scotch Peers. 
All his affecting eloquence was thrown away upon them, even 

when 

* See the Act for granting to His Majesty, certain duties on 
Bitches, Whelps, &c. &c. passed May 19, 1796. 

°3 



I 214 ] 

Though Abram Jones, (//) and Jasper Wilson preachy 
.With names uncouth, but not unpoiish'd speech. 
Few mark the Journals of the dubious Moore, (m) 
We scent the tainted gale from Gallia's shore; 
Through England as his Various Views advance, 
We smile, but trace the Mannerist of France. 

Godwin's 

when they understood many of the passages, which they did now 
and then. (1796.) 

(//) Two assumed names of political writers, instead of Cato, 
Brutus, &c. but it is a foolish custom and should cease. Of 
Abram Jones I have no conjecture; and Jasper Wilson I believe 
is still dubious : though the leaden mace of the laborious and po- 
lite Apologist has descended with it's usual grace and weight on, 
the devoted head of the ingenious Dr. Currie. 

[m) John Moore, M. D. the celebrated author of " Travels 
" into France, and Italy, of Zeluco, of Edward, or Various 
*< Views of Life and Manners in England, &c. &c. &c." I 
fpeak of him only as a public author. He is a sensible and en- 
tertaining companion ; his style is easy, always agreeable and 
pleasing, his wit is playful, and his pleasantry on physicians is 
sometimes little inferior to Moliere ; " yineta csedit sua." But 
I dislike the te?idency of various parts of his writings when he 
speaks of the French affairs, I mean of the principles of the 
first Revolution, which led to the cruelties, misery, and distress, 
which have been since felt by France and by all Europe. It is 
impossible chat Dr. Moore or any other man of sense, can be u» 
advocate for their present system. I dislike also the perpetual 
ridicule which Dr. Moore throws upon hereditary honour, at a 
$jm.e li^e the present. (1796,) 



[ "5 3 

Godwin's dry page (p) no stateman e'er believ'd, 

Though fiction aids, what sophistry conceiv'd ; 

Genius 

(ft) I have given some attention to Mr, Godwin's work, 
*' on Political Justice, "(«) as conceiving it to be the code 
of improved modern ethics, morality, and legislation. I confess 
I looked not for the republic of Plato* nor even for the Oceana 
of Harrington, but for something different from them all. I 
looked indeed for a superstructure raised on the revolutionary 
ground of equality, watered with blood from the guillotine; 
and such I found it. I cannot discuss a work in two large 
volumes in a note, (though some would dispatch it with a single 
word) but in general I can speak as much of it, as it deserves, 
in a short compass; I mean, as it appears to me. 

Ad terras comitata cadentem 
Jam signet muros ultricis semita flammse ! (h) 

The first trait of the work is a certain cold-blooded indiffe- 
rence to all the mild, pious, and honourable feelings of our 
common nature, like all the Philosophers of the new Sect. 
The next thing observable, is a most affectionate concern and 
regard for the welfare of mankind, who are to exist some centuries 
hence, when the endless perfectibility of the human species (for such 
is their jargon) shall receive its com/iletion upon earth ; when 
the disciples of Dr. Darwin have learned to manage the winds 
and direct their currents at pleasure, and the descendants of 
Abbe Sieyes have calmed the waves of a stormy people with 
the essential oil of democracy. 

Another trait is, that a!l political Justice is essentially founded 
upon injustice; if plunder, robbery, and spoliation of all' pro- 
perty 

{a) First published in a vols. 4to ; and since in % vol*. 8vq ? 

{b) Stat. L. xi. v. 3, 
O4 



t "6 ] 

Genius may droop o'er Falkland's funeral cry; 



No 



perty in the outset may be termed injustice;* though to be sure 
the latter end of his commonwealth rather forgets the beginning, 
Uut I must say, he is not without some kind of apprehension, 
that the population of states may be too great, under the 
blessings of an equal diffusion of property in the proposed go- 
vernment, for which he provides a remedy; though, for my 
own part, I think such a government, like Saturn of old, will 
be reduced to the necessity of eating up its children. 

Again : another discovery seems to be, that as hitherto we 
liave had recourse to the agency and interference of the 
Deity, and his unalterable lawsj to account even for the 
fall of a stone to the ground, the germination of a blade of 
grass, or the propagation of the meanest insect; we are now to 
discard the superintendence of God in human and terrestrial 
affairs, and to believe in no providence but our own, and to re-male 
ourselves and our faculties. He seems to realize a modern 
fiction J once read, which supposes an assembly of certain 
philosophers before the Deity, when some of them are said to 
whisper in his ear, u Between friends, we do not believe 
*■ that you exist at all." 

Further: as to suppose a divine sanction without a divinity 
would be absurd, therefore^ every institution such as marriage, 
which in all civilized nations has been hallowed for the great 
end for which it was ordained, is to be vilified, ridiculed, argued 
away, and abolished. The tender sex, deprived of the support, 
comfort, and protection of their natural guardian, is to be 

delivered 

* i. e. If Mr. Godwin's principles are to be adopted in anj£ 
country, where property is now secured by the laws* 



[ £i7 ] 

No patriot weeps when gifted villains die. i8« 

"Who 

delivered over to fancied freedom and wild independance, but 
in reality to misery and destitution beyond all calculation. 

Then by way of corollary, a few vulgar virtues and once ho- 
nourable affections, as piety to parents, and love to children, as 
suck, are to be erased from the breast. Gratitude for kindness, 
and tears for the unfortunate, are but weakness: there is nothing 
soothing in compassion, and friendship has no consolation. It 
would seem, that a well of water, an apple tree, or any thing 
productive, is more valuable than man to man, abstracted from the 
mere use which one man can derive from another. " Thece are 
*' thy gods, O Israel, and this is the worship to which you are 



tt 



ca 



lied I 5 



Nevertheless I shall still venture to mention, with reverence 
and humility, the great moral code intended for all man- 
kind, once delivered and ratified by Him, <who knew what <was 
in man. In that code all is practicable, all virtue is founded in 
mercy, kindness, benevolence, and comfort, alike to him that 
gives and him that takes. There man plants; and God, not 
man, gives the increase. There we find no wild supposition of 
an interest which cannot be described, as it does not exist; no 
course of actions is proposed, without a motive direct and 
reflected.^ I speak here of perhaps the least part of the Gospel 
Code, even of that Revelation which was given unto men in a 
manner at once clear and perspicuous, pure and unmixed, 
uniform and consistent, persuasive and convincing, powerful 
and authoritative, in the name and in the majesty of HtM who 
is from everlasting to everlasting, The Almighty! 

But if we regard mere human institutions; if a man wishes to 
see a practicable system of policy and government, founded and 
confirmed in the experience of ages, let him, if he has been 
^awhile led astray by the meteors of Godwin, walk for a season 

i* 



f ai» 3 

Who now reads Farr ? whose title who shall give ? • 

Doctor 

in the steady light which Blackstone has diffused. Let him study 
the Commentaries on the English Laws, as they exist and uphold 
all that is valuable, or perhaps attainable, in a rational and 
civilized nation; and then let him consider the theories of 
Godwin on political Justice, and contemplate the government 
which would be raised on his principles. To me there seems 
to be no more comparison than between light and darkness. 
What the great Burnet * affirms of the Deist and the Atheist, 
considered merely as two sects in philosophy, is, lam convinced, 
iK>t wholly inapplicable to the two political Sects in question. 
6W The hypothesis of the Deist reaches from the top to the bottom, 
** both through the intellectual and material world, with a clear 
€t and distinct light ev T ery where; is genuine, comprehensive, 
** satisfactory ; has nothing forced, nothing confused, nothing 
•* precarious. Whereas the hypothesis of the Atheist is strained 
*' and broken ; dark and uneasy to the mind, commonly ftrecafious t 
** often incongruous and irrational, and sometimes plainly ridiculous" 

I can allow Mr. Godwin, and other speculative writers on 
government to be ingenious. They must in the course of their 
investigation, now ami then throw out a new idea, but in general 
the greateit part of their works consists of very old ideas, which 
have been discussed again and again. They astonish by 
paradoxes, and allure the imagination by prospects without a 
limit; and when they have alternately heated and confounded the 
minds of men, they call them to the great work, namely, the 

subversion 

* Burnet's Theory of the earth, b. 2. ch. 10. — See the tenth 
and eleventh chapters of that great man's work: " On the 
Author of Nature, and on Natural Providence;" — a master 
treatise on reason and eloquence. I wish these two chapteri 
were published in a separate pamphlet. 



[ 2I 9 ] 
Doctor Sententious bight, or Positive? [s) 



From 



subversion of, what they call, prejudices, and the overthrow of 
the government, which is : 

In nostros Fabricata Est machjna muros. 

I can Jaugh at their metaphysics, and even be amused 
with their pantomime fancies, as such. But when I know- 
that their theories are designed to be brought into action, 
and when they tell us, that they hate violence, blood-shed^ 
revolution, and misery, and that truth and happiness are their 
objects; I open my eyes to see, and my ears to hear; and 
having honestly exerted both faculties, I declare, from private 
conviction and from public experience, that I oppose the 
admission of their doctrines, whether recommended by Thomas 
Paine, or William Godwin. Perhaps indeed, " Hujusmodi 
*' Cives, improbos in rempubiicam et seditiosos, a Censore 
" melius est, quam a Poeta notari." (a) 

Yet a moment. Take Mr. Godwin as a natural philosopher, 
and from his doctrines let the reader consider the state of his 
understanding. Let him also consider, how such a man h 
qualified sot merely to reform, but first to overthrow and then 
to rebuild, the whole system of government, morality, and 
religion in tuch a kingdom as Great Britain. What opinion 
can we entertain of a man who seriously thinks that, at some 
future period, the necessity of sleep in an animal body may be 
superseded: -s-that men die ?nerely by their ownfault and mismanagement 
but, that the immortality of the organized human body, as it is 
now formed, might be attained by proper attention and care;— - 
or who thinks " that, hereafter it is by no means clear, that the 
*' most extensive operations may not be within the reach of 
" one man, or to make use of a familiar instance, that a plough 
*' may not be turned into afield, and perform it's office, without the 

" need 
{a) Cicero Fragm. de Republics, Lib. 4. ap. Augustin, de 
Civit. Dei, L. 9, C. 9. 



C 22 ° ] 

From Greek, or French, or any Roman ground, 

In 

Ce need of superintendence ! ! /" and then adds, " It was in this 
u sense that the celebrated Franklin conjectured, tnac Mind 
•* would one day become omnipotent over niaeter!! ! (*) 
§«rely we may say with the poet of Epicurus; 

Natujai 
Perturbatur ihi totum sic berrjkls, et stories 
Commutantur ib: fos j re ii;e v?.yv.--. :■ a. i-. : 

I have referred to the last edition of Mr. Godwin's w*rk, as 
he has corrected or omitted many passages which were in the 
4to edition. If he will but go on with more last thoughts^ I think 
he will shortly reduce it to a very little pamphlet. I could 
make such a collection of Beauties (or what Rabelais might call 
" Antidoted Conundrums") from this work* as would dazzle even a 
modern philosopher, who.ee " mind is omnipotent over matter,'* 
in Mr. Godwin's and Dr. Franklin's sense. 

I think these Beauties would form an assemblage of the 
most curious and incongruous ideas ever exhibited, fully suf- 
ficient, (as Mr. Godwin expresses it) to " rouse (any man) from 
•'"the lethargic oblivious Pool, out of which every finite iff 
*' tellect originally rose!" (c) Good heaven ! what can Mr. Godwin 
mean by such ideas, and such words ! except he seriously believes 
that human souls are dipped in the river of oblivion, or drink 
©f that stream as described by Virgil. Yet even this will not 
lielp, or explain Mr. Godwin's words, for he says, that they 
" originally rose from the oblivious /tool." 

Into what whirlpools of desolating nonsense are we to be 
Irorried, as the sport, the scorn, the ludibria, the puppets of 
these New Creators of the moral world f Alas for man ! wherever 

they 

(a) Godwin, v. 2. p. 494. ed. 8vo. (1) Lucret. L. 4.>, 670* 
ix) Godwin, vo_l, %, p. 88. 8vo. ed. 



C 221 ] 

In mazy progress and eternal round, 

Quotations 
they lead us and themselves, methinks it is deeper and deeper, 
confusion worse confounded ! 

The further I proceed, the more I learn to distrust swelling 
men, and swelling words, and swelling ideas, but above all in 
political subjects, from which most is to be dreaded. Political 
writers of this class are not to be considered as the speculators 
of former times. 

The lucubrations of Montesquieu and Locke, so unjustly 
and so foolishly decried of late by some weak, though well- 
meaning persons, were given as the result of long experi- 
ence and of continued meditation. The works of these great 
men were not designed to produce subversion, but slow and 
gradual reformation, as the various states of Europe wouM 
admit. The writers of these days, on the contrary, throw out 
their ideas at a heat, and intend they should be brought into 
immediate action. They are not friends " to the world, or the 
" world's law." 

I would earnestly and zealously inculcate it again and again, 
that whatever may be held forth to us, or disguised, by these phi- 
losophers, neither their plans, nor their reforms, nor their systems, 
can ever be erected or established in the kingdom of Great 
Britain, but upon the overthrow of the Christian Religion, 
and upon the annihilation, or the disturbance of ail orders and 
ranks in society, as they now exist. We may also be fully 
assured, that this cannot be effected, but through the necessary 
and unavoidable medium of plunder, confiscation, revolutionary 
diurnal murders, and the insurrection of the enterprising talents 
of gifted, bold, and bad men, u-pon all property, public and 
private, upon which all modern Revolutionists rest as their 
corner stone, and their final hope. 

I will add, that to such of my readers as are conversant iii 
those authors of antiquity whose precision^ of thought and of 

language, 



[ 22 * 3 

Quotations dance, and wonder at their place, 
Buzz through his wig, and give the bush more grace $ 
But on the oath, that modest Tucker (/) swore. 
Parr wisely ponder'd ; and his oath forbore. 
He prints a Sermon : (//) Hurd with judging eye 
Reads, and rejects with critic dignity : 19a 

Words 



language, has conferred dignity and stability on those principles 
by which all that is 5 acred, or venerable, or useful, or necessary 
to well-being is maintained, I would offer the wordj of aa 
ancient Christian Philosopher in the early ages. The uncer- 
tainty, and weakness, and futility of modern and revived doctrines 
were never better exposed or expressed. 

Hch yap fxoi photos uyvoius &7ra,yr<x t koli cmavn /xsXa;va, xcci 
frftsipos TrXavT}, xat artXys (pawraaix, xoci ay.a.ra.'krmros ayvoiac. 
Tccvrcc TOivuv ^e^ryXQov, CaXopcsvos - $£i%ou ryjv sv rois £cy/xa<HV 
acracv aurcov evavriOTnra, xai ojs et£ airsipov uvrots xat aopiaro* 
tfpoeimv % tyirvxris vwv npzyiAxroov, xoci to teXos avrcov arsKyMg- 
tov xou axpYHTTOV, tpyu /xrjO^vt 7Tpo^nXco xai "koyw <ra.q>Ei CeCaib- 
fAEVoy.(«) {1796.) 

If this note is too long, I have no inclination to make any 
apology for it. My conviction and my fears on this most 
awful subject, (while it may jet avail us to consider it) some- 
times overpower me, till I absolutely sink under them. It is 
written, I hope we all know where, " Y&vo&svo; sv uycovip 
■• EKTENE2TEPON vpotmvxero." 

. , _ ,, . .. ,, n. V 

(a) Hermias Aicccrup[Ao<; (sive Irrisio) t&jv s%co (Pi^oo-o^o/v* 
Pag 175.— Sub fin ; Ed, Paris, Justin. Martyris Op. 1636. 



[ 22 3 ] 

Words upon words ! and most against their will, 

And honied globules dribble through his quill, 

Mawkish, and thick; Earth scarce the tropes supplies, 

Heav'n lends her moon and crouded galaxies ; (y) 

Polemic 

(f) Though the reader may possibly have a very good idea o£ 
a sententious, or a positive Doctor in general ; yet my specific 
allusion is to the theology of the twelfth century, when the 
Doctors were divided into Doctores Dogmatici et Pcsi/ivi, and 
the Doctores Sententiafii, or expounders of the famous Book of 
Sentences by Peter Lombard, Bishojiof Paris. 

At present Bishop Gregoire and Bishop Sieyes at Paris, give 
their Doctors some famous books of sentences to expound, notis- 
et commentariis perpetuis Doctoris Guillotini, who causes 
great unanimity of sentiment among the Doctors, and arranges 
their several heads with admirable precision. (1796.) 

{/) Josiah Tucker, D. D. late Dean of Gloucester, h iraw 9 
once took an oath in a pamphlet that he would refuse a 
bishopric. He was an acute, learned, and most sagacious 
man. 

{//) The unfortunate Education Sermon, which Bishop Hurd 
happened to dislike. <c Hinc illae lacrymae I 1 ' This produced 
the re-publication of Warburton's and Hurd's tracts, with the 
splendid and astonishing dedication by Dr. Parr. See the First 
Dialogue of the P. of L. See also Rabelais's great Chapter, 
" How Gargantua spent his time in rainy weather," and the 
comment by Du Chat. 

(a/) Dr. Parr's own words. See the P, of L. Dialogue r. 
and Dr. Parr's own Dedication of Warburton's tracts, p. x^i, 
&c. with all the display of beautiful eanhly and coeiesual ima- 



f 224 ] 

Polemic phrenzy and irreverent rage, 
And dotard impotence, deform the page, 



Let 



gery, and all the melliti verborum globuli, which were exhibited 
on the occasion in such admirable confusion, " ut majus sit 
4t hasce contortiones orationis, quam signorum ortus obitusque, per- 
cfc discere." (a) Dr. Parr's strange verbiage (b) reminds me of 
some persons in The Wasjis of Aristophanes ; 

Av"xyn; s^ovres - , xoci [AiwpiZpvrzc, (j.s\n 
Ap%Gtto[As\w<Ji$covc<ppuvixYipaTa,. (c) 
Or as Plautus expresses himself in one of his comedies ; 
" Salva res est, phiiosophatur quoque jam: 
" Quod erat ei nomen? — Thesaurochysonicockysides." {d) 
The Doctor can construe all this, I believe, and the meaning 
of it. 

Dr. 

(a) Cic. de Fato, Sect. 8. 

(b) I have been misunderstood. I hold up none of Dr. Farr's 
sesquipedalia verba to ridicule ; it is his verbiage and phrase- 
ology which I reprobate. It would be ridiculous indeed to 
compare the Birmingham Doctor with Dr. Samuel Johnson. I 
am not his Biographer ; it is not his life, but his writings 
which I criticise. 

What has Dr. Parr written ? A Sermon or two, rather 
long; a Latin Preface to Bellendenus, (rather long too,) con- 
sisting of a cento of Latin and Greek expressions applied 
to political subjects; another preface to some English, 
tracts, and two or three English pamphlets about his own 
private quarrels. And this is the man to be compared with. 
Dr. Samuel Johnson ! ! ! (Added, 1797.) Why am I forced into 
a confirmation of my opinion stronger and stronger? 
•(r) 2<p7j^£$. v. 219. (d) Captiv, At a. Sc.2» 



[ 22s 3 

Let Him but wrangle, and in any shape 
Not insignificance itself can 'scape : 



Horace 



Dr. Parr is so very learned, and has such a deep mouth, that 
some conjecture he was not born till the end of the eleventh 
month, like the great Gargantua ; or "zrsptTrXpptevs zviavrov, at the 
end of a twelve- month, as Homer speaks [a) of one of Neptune's 
children, and for which Aulus Gellius (a favourite author with 
Dr. Parr) gravely assigns a reason, " Convenisse Neptuno 
u majestatique ejus, ut longiore tempore satus ex eo grandes- 
*' ceret." {b) ETret ax. acirotycoXioi svvoci AQav&rajvl 

A few months after the Doctor's birth, he was found, like 
Gargantua, to be " a fine boy, and had a burly /ihysiognomy ; he 
<e monochordized with his fingers, and barytoni zed with his tail.'* 
Rabel. B. i. C. 7, This was a presage of the noise the Doctor 
was to make hereafter ; but from the nature of his boyish diet, 
(for his masters were stiled Tubal Holofernes and Ponocrates 
Mataeologus) it appeared that he was better fed than taught. 
If the child wanted a bit of bread, or a slice of mutton, or any 
common vegetable, he was not suffered to have any, till he had 
cited all the Greek or Latin authors who had mentioned these 
natural substances; Pliny, Athenaeus, Julius Pollux, Galen, 
Porphyrius, Oppian, Polybius, Dionysius 'Halicarnassensis, 
Heliodorus, Aristotle,Plato, AulusGellius, iElian,Theophrastus,* 
and Dioscorides, down to Buffon and Sir John Hill. This habit 

tie 

{a) Odys. xi. v. 247. (b) Aul. Gell. Lib. 3. C. 16. 

(c) I recommend to Dr; Parr the following passage from 
Theophrastus's History of Plants, which he will understand; 
Ev raci; ccyaQxis %copaci^ vpos to MH OTAAOMANElN, 

Etfivs/xBo-j x,xi iTHKBipuoi, tov anoy. Theophrast, Hist, Plant. Lib. $• 



i "6 ] 

Horace and Coombe f» go forth, a gentle pair, 
Splendid and silly, to unequal war; 200 

But while the midwife to Lucina prays, 
The Gorgon glares, and blasts the critic's bays* 

Parr prints a Paper -,(y) well: in all, things equal, 
Sense, taste, wit, judgment ; but pray read The Sequel: 

Sequel 

the Child never lost in his riper years, to the great edification of 
his hearers or reader^ when he was furnished with pen and ink. 

When he was advanced to the Doctorate, the Child was still 
the same, as appeared in his complimentary and satirical pre- 
face to Bellendenus, in which, as usual, he discharged all the 
literary food he ever ate, after the Greek fashion of his masters 
Tubal Holofernes and Ponocrates Matseologus, and as prescribed 
by that great and consummate Theologian, " Joanninus de 
*' Barrauco in libro de copiositate reverentiarum," a writer 
who cannot be sufficiently recommended* and who is as well 
known as ** Musambertius in Commonitorio ad Ramiresium 
" de Prado," quoted by Mr. Porson in the title page of hiis 
Letters, to regale Archdeacon Travis. 

(x) See the ridiculous controversy between Dr. Parr and Dr. 
Coombe, about a pompous edition of Horace, published to be 
sure for no purpose that I can discover ; which the Doctor 
Positivus mangled and destroyed in the British Critic without 
any mercy. See also Dr. Parr's strange Letter to Dr. C. on this 
occasion, signed " By an Occasional Writer in the British 
" Critic." 

(v) Dr. Parr published at Birmingham what he called 

«* A printed Paper;" and after that, " A Sequel to a printed 

" Faper," a very large pamphlet, de omni scibili, as usual. 

I really 



[ 22 7 

Sequel to what ? the Doctor only knows; 

Morsels of politics, most chosen prose, 

Of Nobles, Priestley, Plato, Democrats, 

Pitt, Plutaich, Curtis, Burke, and Rous, and Rats; 

The scene? 'tis Birmingham, renown'd afar 

At once for halfpence, and for Doctor Parr. 210 

OCTAVIUS. 

Well if none read such, works, yet all admire—* 

AUTHOR. 

The paper ? 

OCTAVIUS. 

Yes; ten shillings every quire: (a) 

The 

I really think it is impossible to point out any man of learning 
and ability, (and Dr. Parr has both,) who has hitherto wasted his 
powers and attainments in such a desultory, unmeaning, wild, 
unconnected, and useless manner, as Dr. Parr. " In nullum 
" reijiublkee usum ambitiosa loquela inclaruity* I have done 
with him. 

(a) I allude to and condemn the needlessly expensive manner 
of publishing most pamphlets, and books at this time. See the 
Pursuits of Literature, Dial. 1. 

P z If 

* Tacit. L. 4. Sect, 20; 



[ 223 ] 

The type is Bulmer's, just like BoydelFs plays : 
So Mister Hayley shines in Milton's (b) rays. 
In one glaz'd glare tracts, sermons, pamphlets vie* 
And hot-press'd nonsense claims a dignity. 

AUTHOR. 

Nonsense or sense, I'll bear in any shape. 
In gown, in lawn, in ermine, or in crape : 
What's a fine type, where truth exerts her rule? 
Science is science, and a fool's a fool. 220 

Yet ail shall read, and all that page approve, 
When public spirit meets with public love. 

Thus 



If the present rage of general printing on fine, creamy, 
*yh*e-wove, hot-pressed paper is not stopped, the injury done 
%o the eye from reading, and the shameful expence of the 
books, will in no very long time annihilate the desire of reading, 
and the possibility of purchasing. No new work whatsoever 
should be published in this manner , or Literature will destroy itself. 

(b) Mr. Hayley wrote a long life, or rather a sort of defence 
of Milton, as I think, prefixed to Boydell's grand edition of 
the poet. I like neither the spirit nor the execution of Mr, 
H.'s work. 



[ 22 9 ] 

Thus late (c) where poverty with rapine dwelt, 
Rumford's kind genius the Bavarian felt, 
Not by romantic charities beguil'd, 
But calm in project, and in mercy (d) mild. 
Where'er his wisdom guided, none withstood, 
Content with peace and practicable good -> 
Round him the labourers throng, the nobles wait, 
Friend of the poor, and guardian of the state. 230 

Yet all shall read, (e) when bold in strength divine, 

Prelatic virtue guards the Christian shrine, 

Pleas'd 

(c) See the Experimental Essays, Political, Economical, and 
Philosophical, by Benjamin Count of Rumford, . ? :c. §cq* &c. 
I hope the Directors of the interior Government of this coOmtry 
will have the sense aad wisdom to profit from this most valuable 
and important work, whose truly ohilo^ophic and benevolent 
author must feel a joy and self satisfaction, far superior to any 
praise which man can bestow. 

(.//) A distinguishing feature in all his plans for the relief 
of the poor, the idle, the abandoned, and the wretched. The 
mode of conferring mercy, and apparent kindness, is not always 
mild and merciful. I have too much respect for my readers to 
enlarge on this virtue. May they all feel experimentally, that 
the merciful, in the true sense, shall obtain mercy. 

(<?) See the important, convincing, and ekquent Letters ad- 
dressed to Thomas Pajne, author of the Age of Reason, ad part, 

P3 by 



[ 2 3 ] 

Pleas'd from the pomp of science to descend, 
And teach the people, as their hallowed friend ; 
In gentle warnings to the unsettled breast, 
In all it's wanderings from the realms of rest, 
From impious scoffs and ribaldry to turn, 
And Reason's Age by reason's light discern - y 
Hefix insulted truth with temper'd zeal, 
And feel that joy which Watson best can feel, 240 

True Genius marks alone the path to life, 
And Fame invites, and prompts the noble strife, 
Her temple's everlasting doors unbarr'd ^ 
Desert is various, various the reward : 
No little jealousy, no ill-tim'd sneer, 
No envy there is found, or rival fear, 

Methinks 

by the Rt. Rev. Richard Watson, Bishop of Landaff, stiled, 
* i An Apology for the Bible." Every person wishes, that the 
Bishop had changed, or would even now change, the word 
* Apology" to " Defence," or any other; not that the word 
e< apology" is absolutely improper, but because the original 
meaning of it is obsolete. To write such a book as this is to do 
a real service to mankind. A cheap edition of it is printed, aud 
at is hoped will be circulated throughout the kingdom. 
I think that his [' Defence of Revealed Religion" in two short 

Sermons 



[ *3i ] 

Methinks on Babylon fond fancy dreams, 
Her vale of willows by the mournful streams, 
Where Hebrew lyres hung (a-) mute ! O'er Sion's hilj 
Blows the chill blast, and baneful dews distill, (dd) 

Blest 

Sermons is of great merit and of general utility. Bishop Watson 
should often write, but with the utmost caution, accuracy, and 
consideration, because his works will always be read. 

I would also particularly recommend the perusal of the Sixth 
Letter of the Series of Letters which the Bishop addressed to 
Mr. Gibbon. To young men of fashion and of abilities, origi- 
nally good, but obscured by libertine life and conversation, it 
will be peculiarly serviceable; as well as to those who are led 
astray by some modern pretended discoveries in natural Jihiloso* 
fihjt now a favourite mode of introducing and enforcing 
scepticism and infidelity. 

In this place it is a circumstance worthy of solemn notice, 
that when Anaxagoras reasoned before Pericles on the ceco- 
nomy and order of the Universe, and the phenomena of na- 
ture, the all-accomplished Athenian was led by the philosopher 
into a sobriety of thought and a settled devotion. It is thus 
expressed in the powerful language of Plutarch : '** O e QporixQS 
" "Koyos 9 avri rns QoQzqccs xoti (pAsy/xaivacr^ dsieiSoctpuovict;, m> 
'* aoty<xKri fxzr ehwtScov ayaQcov £v<rz£eixv svipyM^srai."* 

(cc) " The banks of the rivers of Babylon were so thickly 
planted with willow trees, as the learned Bochart informs 
us, that the country of Babylon was thence called, The 
Vale of Willows, and on those trees were suspended the 
lyres of the captive Hebrews neglected and unstrung," 
See Persian Miscellanies, by William Ouseley, Esq, 

P 4 4to. 

f Plut. Vit. Pericl. p. 34a. vol. i. ed. Bryan. 



[ 2 32 ] 

Blest be the charm, that sense to virtue binds, 
The social sj'mpathy of learned minds, 252 

The common care, the universal cause, 
And all that piety to genius draws. 

Plow sweet to hear, on that Parnassian mount, 
Mild waters welling from the favour'd fount : 
Ob,- never may Castalia's streams divide 
From Siloa's brook, and Jordan's hallow'd tide. 

But 

4to. p. 10 1. abounding with learned, pleasing, and curious 
Information. It is one of those works, which not being adapted 
to genera] reading should be patronised and purchased by men 
of fortune and education. 

I beg leave for the same reasons, to recommend the ingenious 
Mr. Maurice's History of Hindostan in 410, and his Indian 
Antiquities it, 8vo. The subject is indeed in the region of 
Jaiidy and of conjecture, and Mr. M.'s work abounds with 
both ; but such erudition, ingenuity, and unremitting diligence, 
should not fail of an honourable reward. Sint hic etiam sua 
prasmia laudi. (See also P. of L. Dial. IV.) 

{dd) I read, with the greatest concern, the following passage 
in the very learned, ingenious, and venerable Bishop of Worces- 
ter's Preface to the quarto edition of Warburton's Works, 
concerning Dr. Lowth, one of the greatest men whom our times 
have produced. Dr. Hurd savs j " Bishop Lowth's reputation, 
" a: a writer, was raised chiefly on his Hebrew Literature, as 
*' displayed in chose two works, hisLatinLectnreson the Hebrew 
** poetry, and his English version of the prophet Isaiah. The 

*< former 



[ 233 ] 

But hark, what solemn strains from Arno's vales 
Breathe raptures wafted on the Tuscan gales! 260 
Lorenzo rears again his awful head, 
And feels his ancient glories round him spread -, 
The Muses starting from their trance revive, 
And at their Roscoe's bidding, wake and live, (e) 

The 

" former is well and elegantly composed, but in a vein of criti- 
" cism not above the common ; the latter, I think, is chiefly 
*i valuable, as it shews how little may be expected from Dr. 
" Kennicott's Work, and from a new translation of the Bibie for 
u public use." Preface to Wsrburton's Works, 4to; edit. p. 94. 
The necessity of any observation from me is j.rec'uded by a 
very able Letter to Bishop Hurd, occasioned by his Strictures 
on A;ehbi>h' p Seeker at>d Bishop Low-h, by a member of the 
University of Oxford, which I recommend to the reader. It is 
one of the few pamphlets which should be preserved. 

(e) See " The Life of Lorenzo de Medici, calied the Magni- 
" ficent, by William Roscoe," z vol. 4to. I cannot but con- 
gratulate the public upon this great and important addition to 
Classical History, which I regard as a phasnomenon in Litera- 
ture, in every point of view. 

It is pleasant to consider a gentleman, not under the auspices 
of an university, or beneath the shelter of academic bowers, 
but in the practice of the law and business of great extent, and 
resident in the remote commercial town of Liverpool, (where 
nothing is heard of but Guinea ships, slaves, blacks, and mer- 
chandise,) investigating and describing the rise and progress of 
every polite art in Italy at the revival of learning with acuteness, 
? depth, 



[ 234 ] 
The Latian genius vindicates his state, 
And proudly hails the great Triumvirate, (/) 
Lords of the lyre, and fathers of the song, 
In Fancy's order as they pass along. 
There musing deep in philosophic groves, 
His Tuscan Academe, (g) Lorenzo roves ; 270 

While 

depth, and precision ; with the spirit of the poet, and the 
solidity of the historian. 

For my own part, I have not terms sufficient to express my 
admiration of his genius and erudition, or my gratitude for the 
amusement and information I have received. I may add, that 
the manner in which Mr. Roscoe procured, from the libraries at 
Florence, and many of the various inedited manuscripts with 
which he has enriched the appendix to his history, was sin- 
gularly curious ; not from a Fellow or Traveller of the Dilet- 
tanti, but from a commercial man in the intervals of his em- 
ployment. 

I shall not violate the dignity of the work by slight objections 
to some modes of expression, or even to a few words, or to 
some occasional sentiments in the Historian cf a Republic. But I 
recommend it to our country as a work of unquestionable 
genius, and of uncommon merit. It adds the name of Roscob 
to the very first rank of English classical Historians. 

MUSARUM SPONDET CHORUS, ET RoMANUS APOLLO.* (1796.) 

{f) Dante, Boccacio, and Petrarch. 

(g) See Mr. Roscoe's account of the institution of the 
Platonic Academy at Florence, and the Platonic festival, and 
the effects of it. Vol. i. p. 160, &c. &c. 

* Sulpiciae Sat. v, ult. 






[ 235 3 

While prophets of his great reviving name, 
From isles of fragrance and Athenian fame, 
Sages and Bards in classic pomp appear ! 
Bessarion, (h) and Philelpho's (i) form severe; 
Marsilius (k) rob'd in olive, Plato's priest ; 
(/) Janus with treasures from the learned East ; 
And He, who from Eleusis flaming bore 
The torch of science to his native shore, 

Fam'd 

(h) Cardinal Bessarion, a learned and eloquent prelate, 
honoured with the purple by Pope Eugenius the 4th in 1439. 
For the most ample account of the restoration of Greek 
literature in Italy, the reader must consult the learned Hodius 
deGraecisIllustribus,LinguaeGraecaeLiterarumquehomaniorurn 
Instauratoribus, which may easily be procured ; and, if convei 
nient, Tiraboschi's History, which is voluminous, Thaboschi 
was the Librarian at Modena. 

(/) Philelpho. A Professor in variou* science? in different 
parts of Italy, who introduced many curious Greek RJJSS. mto 
that country ; a man of erudition, but turbulent z^ intractable 
in his temper. " Ingenium vagum, multiplex, volubile." See 
also the Academie des Inscriptions, torn 10 p 691 — 751. 

{k) Marsilius Ficinus, the great disciple of Plato, whose 
doctrines exclusively occupied hi? attention, orrathei tkvction, 
and which appeared in all his conduct and conversation. 

(/) Janus Lascaris, a man of eloquence and politeness, and 
of imperial descent. He was a literary missionary of Loienzo, 

and* 



r *& i 

Fam'd Chrysoloras • (m) and Landino (n) bold, 

In studious shades high converse form'd to hold ; 

Politian, {nn) chief of all th' enlighten'd race 

In Lydian softness, and Horatian grace; 28s 

Michael, (0) in full Pierian powers erect, 

The sculptor, painter, poet, architect* 

Michael 

and brought with him from the east a treasure of two hundred 
manuscripts. See also Hodias de Grsecis Illustrious, p. 294. 
for several curious particulars. 

{m) Emanuel Chrysoloras, stiled by his contemporaries, the 
Patriarch of Literature, principally the Graecian. 

(«) Christpph'erp Landino, a Professor of Poetry and Rhe- 
toric in Florence, a writer of spirit and depth of knowledge; 
and author of a work, once celebrated, called the u Disputationes 
** Camaldulenses 5 " formed on a plan similar to the Tusculan 
disputations. The scene is supposed to be a monastery in the 
wood of Camaldoli. The account of it by Mr. Roscoe is parti- 
cularly pleasing and judicious. "Vol. 1. p. 103, &c. 

(nn) See Mr. Roscoe's account of that finished and polite 
scholar and poet, Angelo Poliliano. It were an injury to. 
abridge it. 

(0) Michael Angelo Buonarotti, I wish, however, to refer 

the reader again to Mr. Pvoscoe, v. 2. p. 201, &c. who gives 
animation to any subject, new or old ', for I know not how it 
is, but as it seems to me f 

HoiC MtIS* INDULGENT OMNES, HUNG POSCIT APOLLQ.^ 

* VIdae Art. Poet, 1. 1. y, 337, 



- 




I 



[ 237 ] 

Michael to Britain dear, so Genius spoke, 
When his last praise from parting (//) Reynolds broke : 
And all whose brows, with ivy grac'd or bays, 
Brighten'd their Leo's visionary days. 
Names which I long have blest, nor blest in vain ! 
Oh, were I number'd in their sacred train, 290 

To realms of purest light, where heroes dwell, 
Her bolder notes the willing Muse should swell 

In 



(Jz) In Sir Joshua Reynolds's final address to the Royal 
Academy, as their President^ he concluded an able panegyric 
on that mighty master, by saying that the last word he wished 
to pronounce from the Chair was, " Michael Angelo." It 
was a word heard by the audience with the deep silence of 
regret. It absolutely repairs v me to talk of these great men : 
such is the power of departed genius ! 

Far pleasanter to me is the language of commendation, than 
the tone of censure. I wish to expatiate freely, when I can, in 
the groves and retreats of the wise, the virtuous, and the emi- 
nent, with philosophers, and statesmen, and poets, and historians, 
and orators of highest fame. I love the regions of the morning, 
and the light of the sun j 

O0f r Hsr Yipiysvsir,? 



(a) Horn. Od, L. 12, v. 3, 



[ *3* I 

In lyric intonation, grave and deep, 
Nor dream with folly, nor with dulness sleepy 
To Cowper and to GifFord leave the rod, 
For songs celestial, and the Delian God : 
Then calmly to the secret mount retire, 
Eid Satire glance on folly, and expire. 



OCTAVIUS. 

Give me my Sabine grove, tir'd Horace cried ; 
For Cum^ thus the great Aquinian sigh'd : 300 
But when wild waves, and wars, and tempests rage, 
Ah, who can find the soft Saturnian age? 
'Tis your's awhile to frown on classic toys, 
Black- Letter Dogs, or hoary seventh-form Boysj 
Awhile to war with dunces, fools, and knaves, 
Hirelings of state, or opposition slaves, 
And all who dare profane the Muse's dome r 
With idle, random fierceness they may foam, 

None 



t 239 ] 

None shall her column's stately pride deface : 309 
The Snake winds harmless round the marble base, (q) 

(q) My friend Octavius means by this allusion to observe, 
that the proper, constant, and undeviating application of time, 
learning, and talents, must ultimately resist the malignity of 
criticism, and rise superior to temporary neglect, in any 
department of literature, of government, or of society. 

As I concluded the first Dialogue of this Poem with a 
sentence from Swift, I wish to recommend another from that 
great master of life, as obvious perhaps, and as little attended 
to. The sentence is this; ** It is an uncontrolled truth, that no 

€i MAN EVER MADE AN ILL FIGURE, WHO UNDERSTOOD HIS 
" OWN TALENTS, NOR A GOOD ONE, WHO MISTOOK THEM." 



THE END OF THE THIRD DIALOGUE, 






[ 241 ] 



THE 

PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 

^- - » i 

DIALOGUE THE FOURTH AND LAST. 



Ol/£' QtX(X,G(rK(fflWi £{%£ Xg£J<VV 'EvOU i%BdJV 

T-<|-8 £7r' ajejooraT*]* xopv(pri$ lLat&H v\m<r<rr\s 
®epUm$ m evQsv .yap £(patvsro Traaa /xev Icfoj, 
Oatvero £e TIpixfAoio tfo\is, km v%zs A%ociW 
Avtiko, £' e| o^eos- xaTsSWaro itxt'KOcKozvTos * 

TPI2 pcev op E ?aT' <*v, TO AE TETPATON hsro raxpc^ 

Aiya;, sv0* & 6: xA^ra $6//xara BEN0E2I AIMNH2 

Horn. II. 13. v. 10. 



33 



I H5 3 



THE PREFACE 

TO THE 

FOURTH AND LAST DIALOGUE^) 

THE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



s/gmbra sua torna ch'era dipartita! Dante. 

" Hear his sjieech^ but say thou nought?* 
" But one word more; — " 
" He 'will not be commanded P* Macbeth. 



A: 



S I have now brought my Poem to the conclusioa 
which I intended, it is proper and, as I think, respectful 
to offer some considerations to the public, for whose use 
it was written. No imitation of any writer or of any poem 
was proposed, unless the adherence to the principles of 
just composition, and a general observation of the finished 
models of classical literature, be considered as such. In 

Q2 che 

(a) First printed in July 1797* 



L Hi 1 
the freface to the First Dialogue I said, what 1 now repeat* 
that I would not have printed it, but from a full con- 
viction of it's tendency to promote the public welfare. 
My particular ideas on the nature and subject of Satire 
I expressed clearly and fully in the Preface to the Second 
Dialogue, and under the influence and impression of those 
sentiments I wrote the work* I have since enlarged on that 
subject in the Introductory Letter to this Poem. In my 
Preface to the Third Dialogue, feeling the importance 
Of my subject in it's various branches, I asserted that, 

*' Literature, well or ill conducted, is the great 
•• engine by which all civilized States must 
" ultimately be supported or overthrown" 

I am now more and more deeply impressed with this 
truth, if we consider the nature, variety, and extent of 
the word Literature. 

We are no longer in an age of ignorance ; and informa- 
tion is not partially distributed according to the ranks, and 
orders, and functions, and dignities of social life. All 
learning has an index, and every science it's abridgment. I 
am scarcely able to name any man whom I consider as 
wholly ignorant. We no longer look exclufively for learned 
authors in the usual place, in the retreats of academic 
erudition, and in the seats of religion. Our peasantry now 
read the Rights of Alan on mountains, and moors, and 
by the way side ; and shepherds make the analogy between 
their occupation and that of their governors. Happy indeed, 
had they been taught to make no other comparison,. Our 
iinsexed female writers now instruct, or confuse, us and 
themselves in the labyrinth of politics, or turn us wild with 
Gallic frenzy. ♦ 

* But 



[ H5 ] 

But there is one publication of the time too peculiar, 
and too important to be passed over in a general reprehen- 
sion. There is nothing with which it may be compared, 
A legislator in our own parliament, a member of the 
House of Commons of Great Britain, an elected guardian 
and defender of the laws, the religion, and the good man- 
ners of the country, has neither scrupled nor blushed to 
depict, and to publish to the world, the arts of lewd and 
systematic seduction, and to thrust upon the nation the 
most open and unqualified blasphemy against the very code 
and volume of our religion. And all this, with his name, 
style, and title, prefixed to the novel or romance called 
*' The Monk." (b) And one of our public theatres has 

allured 



(b) " The Monk, a Romance in three volumes by M.Lewis, 
«« Esq. M. P." printed for Bell, Oxford-street. At first I 
thought that the name and title of the author were fictitious, 
and some of the public papers hinted it, But I have been so- 
lemnly and repeatedly assured by the Bookseller himself, that it 
is the writing and publication of M.Lewis, Esq. Member of 
Parliament. It is sufficient for me to point out Chap. 7, of 
Vol. 2. As a composition, the work would have been better, if 
the offensive and scandalous passages had been omitted, and it is 
disgraced by a diablerie and nonsense fitted oniy to frighten 
children in the nursery. 

I believe this Seventh Chapter of Vol. 1. is indictable at 
Common Law. Edmund Curl in the first year of George IL was 
prosecuted by the Attorney General (Sir Philip Yorke, after- 
wards Lord Hardwicke) for printing two obscene books. The 
Attorney General set forth the several obscene passages, and con- 
cluded, that " it was an offence against the King's peace,"* The 
0^3 defendant 



t 246 ] 

allured the public attention still more to this novel, by % 



scenig 



defendant was found guilty and set in the pillory. See Str. 78S. 
2 Earnardist. 29. The indictment (in Mich. Term, 1 G. II.) 
begins thus : *f Edmund Curl, Existens homo iniquus et scelera* 
* c tus, nequiter machinans et intendens bonos mores subditoruia 
*' hujus regni corrumpere, et eos ad nequitiam inducere, quendam 
* { obscaenum libellum intitulat." &c. &c— rSee Sir John Strange's 
Rep. p. 777. ed. 1782. In two or three days after the point ha4 
been solemnly argued, and the judges had given their respective 
opinions, Sir J. Strange observes, " They gave it as their unanimous 
** opinion^ that/^/j was a temporal offence." And they declared also 
that if the famous case of the Queen against Read (6 Ann. in 
B. R.) was to be adjudged (by them) they should rule it otherwise-^ 
i. e. contrary to Lord Ch.J. Holt's opinion. The Judges were Sir 
Robert (afterwards Lord) Raymond, Fortescue, Reynolds, an4 
Frobyn. We know the proceedings against the book, entitle4 
*' Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure," by John Cleland. 

To the passages of obscenity, (which certainly I shall no£ 
copy in this place) Mr. Lewis has added blasphemy againsit/ 
the Scriptures; //'the following passage may be considered 
as such. '*> He (the Monk) examined the book which she 
*' (Antonia) had been reading, and had now placed upon the 
* c table. It <was the Bible. ' How,' said the Prior to him- 
** self, ' Antonia reads the Bible, and is stil} so ignorant ? 
** But upon further inspection, he found that Elvira (the mother 
f* of Antonia) had made exactly the same remark. Thatprudent 
t* mother, while she admired the beauties of the Sacred 
•* writings, was convinced, that unrestricted, no reading more 
'* improper could be permitted a young nvoman. Ma ny of the narra T 
" lives can only tend to excitf ideas the worst calculated for 4 
*' female breast ; every thing is called roundly and plainly by 
j" it's awn name; and the annals of a brpthel would 

f_ SCARCELY 



C 247 ] 

weenie representation of an Episode in it, <r O Procerec 

Censore 



** SCARCELY FURNISH A GREATER. CHOICE OF INDECENT E3C- 

'* pressjons ! ! Yet this is the book which young women arc 
** recommended to study, which is put into the hands of chil- 
u dren, able to comprehend little more than those passages of 
*' which they had better remain ignorant y and which but too fre~ 
** quently inculcate the first rudiments of vice, and give the first 
*' alarm to the still sleeping passions. Of this Elvira was so fully 

V convinced, that she would have pre/erred putting into her 
" daughter's hands Amadis de Gaul, or the Valiant Champion 
u Tirante the White ; and 'would sooner have authorised her study* 

V ing the lewd exploits of Don Galaor, or the lascivious jokes of the 
« Damzel Plazer de mi vida," (p. 247, 248.) * &c, I state 
only what is printed ; it is for others to read it and to judge. 
The falshood of this passage is not more gross than it's impiety. 

In the case of Thomas Woolston, in the 2d of George II. 
for blasphemous discourses against our Saviour's miracles; when 
arrest of judgment was moved; Lord Raymond and the whole 
Court declared they would not suffer it to be debated, whether 
to write against Christianity in general (not concerning contro- 
verted points between the learned, but in general) was not an 
offence punishable in the temporal Courts of Common Law. 
Woolston was imprisoned one year, and entered into a large 
recognizance for his good behaviour during life. Sir Philip 
Yorke, afterward^ Lord Hardwicke, was Attorney General at 

th£ 

* I refer to the third edition of The Monk ; for it must never 
be forgotten, that three editions of this novel have been circa* 
Jated through the kingdom, without any alteration whatsoever 
which fear or, as I hope, abetter principle has induced Mr. Lewis 
$9 make, since this denunciation was first published, (1798.) 

Q4 



I *4*.1 

Censore opus est, an Haruspice nobis ?*" I consider this 
as a new species of legislative or state-parricide. 

"What is it to the kingdom at large, or what is it to all 
those whose office it is to maintain truth, and to instruct the 
rising abilities and hope of England, that the author of 
The Monk is a very young man? That forsooth he is a 
man of genius and fancy ? So much the Worse. That 
there are very poetical descriptions of castles and abbies in 
this novel ? So much the worse again, the novel is more 
alluring on that account. Is this 3 time to poison the 

waters 



the time: The case of the King against Annet, when the 
lion. Charles Yorke was Attorney General, (3d of Geo. Ill*) 
for a blasphemous book entitled " The Free Inquirer, tendings 
** among other points, to ridicule, traduce, and discredit the Holy 
" Scriptures, is well known to the profession." The punish* 
ment was uncommonly severe. 

Whether the passages, which I have cited in a popular 
novel, have not a tendency to corrupt the minds of the people, and 
of the younger unsuspecting part of the female sex, by traducing 
and discrediting the Holy Scriptures, is a matter of public 
consideration. fi This hook goes all over the kingdom]* are the 
words of Judge Reynolds, in the case of E. Curl. What Mr, 
Lewis has printed publicly nvith his name, that I state publicly to 
the British Nation* Few will dissent from the opinion of Lord 
Raymond and the Court, in the case of Curl above stated, as 
reported by Strange and Barnardiston to this effect; ,s Religion 
*' is part of the common law, and therefore whatever is an ojfenc$ 
•' against that, is an offence against the Common Law.'* Wttt\ 
this opinion, I conclude the note. ( 1 797.) 

* Juv. Sat. 3, 



[ 249 1 

waters of our land in their springs and fountains? Are we 
to add incitement to incitement, and corruption to cor- 
ruption, till there neither is, nor can be, a return to vir- 
tuous action and to regulated life ? Who knows the age of 
this author? I presume very few. Who does not know, 
that he is a Member of Parliament ? He has told us all so 
liimself. 

f 
I pretend not to know, (Sir John Scott knows, and prac- 
tises too, whatever is honourable, and virtuous, and dignified 
in learning and professional ability) I pretend not, I say, to 
Jcnow, whether this be an object of parliamentary animad- 
version. But we can feel that it is an object of moral and of 
national reprehension, when a Senator openly and daringly 
violates his first duty (d) to his country. There are wounds, 
and obstructions, and diseases in the political, as well as in 
the natural, body, for which the removal of the part affected 
is alone efficacious. At an hour like this, are we to stand in 
consultation on the remedy, when not only the disease is 
ascertained, but the very stage of the disease, and its speci- 
fic symptoms ? Are we to spare the sharpest instruments 
of authority and of censure, when public establishments are 
gangrened in the life^organs ? 

I fear, 



(d) All members of the legislature, Peers or Commoners, 
should join in sentiment, and in character, with the Athenian 
orator, and be considered as speaking to their country in these 
words: ■' Hpts/s - , hie, Upac xcu txQoi Tpoyovcjv uicapyjiu iv ev ttj 
*' ii<%T|i^ij XXI StzTQiGiOii, Ktxi avvriQsioci /xe0' v(J*cov sXsuQegoi, xou 
V yot&ai x(£toc> t&; vo/xhs", kxi xrjcWTat, kai tsmoc, ccfyot rvis 



Sect, j i. 



[ 250 3 

X fear, if our legislators are wholly regardless of suck 
writings, and of such principles, among their ewn members, 
k may be said to them, as the Roman Satirist said to the 
patricians of the empire, for offences slight indeed, when 
compared to these ; 

*' At vos Trojugense vobis ignoscitis, et qua? 
. ** Turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutosque decebunt. (e) 

"Xhere is surely something peculiar in these days ; somc^ 
thing wholly unknown to our ancestors. But men, how* 
ever dignified in their political station, or gifted with 
genius and fortune, and accomplishments, may at least he 
made ashamed,, or alarmed, or convicted before the iru 
tanal of public opinion. Before that tribunal, and ta 
the law of reputation, and every binding and powerful 
sanction by which that law is enforced,, is Mr, Lewis this 
day called to answer, 

I would also, in this place, select a work by a Romas^ 
Catholic Divine, for that animadversion it so solemnly 
demands, I mean the Preface to the Second volume of 
X>K. Geddes's Translation of the Bible. I really would 
not trust myself to criticise the Translation itself, after I 
had read the fifth Chapter of Judges, v. 30. where for the 
words, " To every man a damsel or two," Dr. Geddes 
translates , by way of a spirited and inviting improvement, 
*' A Girl, a couple of girls, to each brave man!" I 
will have nothing to do with the Doctor's Bravery; 
but I intend to make a few observations on the Pre- 
Jace alone, which is very extraordinary indeed, and 
by no means in the spirit which the sacred writings 

recommend,, 
(*) Juv. Sat. 8. v. 181. 



C 2 «5* ] 
recommend. I am always pleased with every serious attempt 
to elucidate the Scriptures, and am as ready as any man 
«to acknowledge the merit and learning of an industrious and 
ingenious scholar. But though I differ essentially from 
Dr. Geddes, I am sure I shall never call him <* apostate, 
ft infidel, or heretic" in general terms, as he knows some 
persons will do \ [J ) but I may oppose an opinion to an 
ppinion. 

The Cause in which he is engaged is not a trifling cause, 
nor is it, as we are sometimes told, an object of mere classical 
Criticism. I think there is an unbecoming levity in the 
Doctor's manner more frequently than I could wish, and 
he expresses his sentiments in language not easily under- 
stood at. all times, nor according to the genius and common 
grammar of the English tongue. But his meaning and 
ppinion is, that " the Historical Books of the Old Testa- 
*' ment were not divinely inspired," He tells us (p. 12.) of 
" a partial and putative inspiration," and that the writers 
had not " a perpetual and unerring siifflation" I do not 
quite understand the terms, as they are too sublime for a 
plain Englishman, but X suppose they are very fine, and I 
suppose their meaning from other sentences in the Preface. 
Jie says (p. 3,;, that " The Hebrew Historians wrote them 
*.' from such human documents as they could find, popular 
i { traditions, old songs, and public registers." Singular 
materials truly for divine inspiration! B,ut he says also, 
)' I venture (and it is indeed venturing a great deal) I venture 
i ' to lay it down as a certain truth, that there is no intrinsic 
% evidence of the Jewish Historians being divinely inspired; 
V that there is nothing in the style, or arrangement, in the 
tl whole colour or complexion of their compositions, that 

** speaks 
(f) Preface, p. 4, 



[ 2^2 ] 

< s speaks the guidance of an unerring spirit, but that on the 
" contrary, every thing proclaims the fallible and failing 
" writer." (p. 5 .) Dr. G. declares also, " After reading 
*• the Hebrew writings, and finding to his full conviction 
" so many intrinsic marks of fallibility, errors, and 
6t inconsistency, not to say dozunright absurdity," (p. n.) 
Be could not believe their inspiration, even if he wer£ 
taught it by an angel. 

I have thus introduced the reader to the Doctor's most 
explicit opinion; but I will also present him with his 
solemn affirmation, and he will easily decide on the pro- 
priety, the reasoning, and the consistency of it. " lvalue 
" them not the less (says Dr. Geddes) becaafe I deem them 
*' not divinely inspired" (P. 12.) If a man can seriously 
assert, that the Scriptures' inspired by God (upon that 
supposition being granted) are not more valuable than the 
productions of a mere fallible wretched creature like man, 
in his best estate, I really could not lose my time in argu-* 
ment with that man however learned, or however gifted. 
He has degraded himself from that rank of literature and 
of sound understanding, which gives him a title to be 
answered. Dr. Geddes, as a scholar, should re-consider 
his character, and as a professed Christian, he should re- 
examine his principles. I cannot discuss the doctrine of 
inspiration in this place ; it cannot be expected that I 
should. But the tendency of all the proceedings of our 
scholars and guides in literature, and in the state, and 
in religion, should be carefully watched, The open blas- 
phemy and low scurrility of Thomas Paine has heen set 
aside by just argument, and the law of the land has armed 

itself 



t 2 53 3 
itself against it's effect in society. (a) Mr. Lewis, Member 
-of Parliament, has attacked the Bible, as I have just shewn, 
in another and in a shorter manner, (£) blasphemous as 
far as it goes, and tending to discredit and traduce its au- 
thority. And last Dr. Gf.ddes, a Translator of the Bible, 
versed in the original language and in the Hebrew criticism, 
has now begun his attack also on the historical parts, which, 
if they are not part of the inspired writings, are not intitled 
to the name of sacred Scriptures. It is difficult to say, where 
these attacks will end. 

The times indeed are so precarious, and revolt from all 
authority human and divine so frequent, that the magistrate, 
the satirist, and the critic have an united office. 

If the historical parts of the Bibie are given up, another 
man will arise and object to the poetical parts. These will 
be allowed to have sublimity and dignity ; but it will be 
asked ; Why should they be considered as inspired? All 
poetry, we shall be told, is in some sense inspired ; Homer 
and yEschylus and Shakspeare, and why not the Hebrew 
bards ? The moral portion of the Scriptures is evidently 
full of wisdom and of the soundest sense, and I suppose 

we 

(a) I am glad to bear testimony to the excellence of Mr. 
Erskine's eloquent declamation in the court of K. B. in the cause, 
on Newton, Boyle, Locke, and other great men, the defenders 
of Christianity. — But my general opinion of Mr. Erskine's talent 
for writing and public political speaking is very different. West- 
minster Hall is his theatre. We might almost say : Tanqua?n in 
fistrinum aliquod detrudi et comfmgi <videtur. (See a future note 
©n this Poem, Dial. 4.) 

(£) In " The Monk, a Romance." See above. 



t 254 ir 

we shall soon hear it may be the work of a philosopher, arid 
that morality is not matter of inspiration. A fourth writer 
may first insinuate with great respect, and then prove that 
all prophecy is ambiguous ; and that the prophecies in the 
Bible may be conjectural, and therefore no reliance can be 
had on their inspiration. Lastly we may be loosely and in- 
discriminately told, that the doctrinal parts are so much 
above, as well as contrary (c) to, human reafon, that they 
could not come Jr m God. 

Thus might the whole fabric vanish into air, into th'iti 
air 1 or to reverse Mr. Gibbon's phrase, thus might *« the 
*• triumphant banner of the heathen Capitol be again 

" erected 



(c) As the subject is so important, and words are so frequently 
misapplied or misapprehended, it is always of use to remember 
the words Faith and Reason, as contradistinguished to each 
other. Mr. Locke has defined them with a clearness and a 
precision which can never be exceeded, and which should never 
be forgotten, in thought or in conversation. 6 * Reason, as 
** contradistinguished to Faith, I take to be the discovery of 
**■ the certainty or probability of such propositions or truths^ 
u which the mind arrives at by deductions made from such ideas, 
44 which it has get by the use of it's natural faculties, namely, 
<* by sensation or reflection. — Faith, on the other side, is the 
* c assent to any proposition not thus made out hy the deductions 
* c of reason, but upon the credit of the proposer,- as coming from 
*' God, in some extraordinary way of communication. This 
*■ way of discovering truths to men we call Revelation" Locke's 
Essay on the H. IT. B. 4. C. 18. An attention tc this accurate 
definition would prevent all confusion, and oftentimes very idle 
or profane jargon, in conversation. Mr. Locke's whole chapter 
on this subject- should be generally studied. 



[ *5S ] 
*< erected on the ruins of the Church of Christ." Si'M 
we are to sit silent, still we are to hear with patience 
the outrageous presumption of man before his merciful 
Creator! while " The World and it's adorable Author, 
iiis attributes and essense, his power, and rights, and 
duty (I tremble to pronounce the word) be all brought 
together to be judged — before us."(i) We are to 
assemble in the Temple with all our princes, and lords, and 
potentates, and venerable orders, and our high officers, in 
all the gradations and dignities of our state and hierarchy, 
till some Champion of anarchy and infidelity be brought 
forth, as in sport, and placed between the pillars. He may 
bow himself with all his might, but his strength, I trust, 

will 



[d) Dr. Ogden's Sermons, in Dr. Hallifax's edit. vol. i. p. 3. 
There was something peculiarly amiable in the kind and disin- 
terested office which the late Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Hallifat, 
undertook in the vindication of the memory and writings o§ 
two great men (quales et quantos viros!) Bishop Butler and Dr. 
Ogden. It will be an eternal honour to that very acute, learned, 
$nd most judicious prelate. Cicero shall speak for this prelate j for 
no man once better understood the strength and application of 
tfis language than Dr. Hallifax, when he filled the professorial 
*hair of Civil Law, as the Ulpian of his day, in the University 
of Cambridge. u Idoneus mea quidem sententia, prassertini 
V quum et Ipse Eum aud'werit et icribat de mortuo ; ex quo nulla 
< f suspicio est amicitiae causa eum esse mentitum."(«) What 
fuch a writer as Dr. Hallifax has told, who would tell again > 
I only speak in honour to the memory of a Scholar, whose 
#ame, and high attainments in science, should be recorded, 

%Q yap yZQGL<i BOTl QcCVOVTCMo 

{a) gic.de flar, Orat, Sect, 15. 



t 2 S 6 3 

will not be from above; he will " feel tbe nature oftne 
" pillars whereupon the house standeth!" I speak this in 
general ; for I hope there is no necessity to apply it to 
Dr. Geddes, or to any such scholar. 

It is not now for the first time that the Canon, and the 
inspiration, and the authenticity of the Scriptures have been 
examined : and even their internal evidence has often taught 
a different lesson. I cannot help offering one suggestion, 
as it is new to me. If there is a subject in the Bible which 
has been particularly singled out for profane ridicule, it 
is that of Jonah being swallowed up in the whale's belly 
three days and three nights. Yet as if to confound human 
wisdom, or sagacity, or vanity, and as an eternal lesson 
to human presumption on the fitness and unfitness of 
ike subjects of inspiration, The Saviour of the 
World thought proper to choose and to appropriate 
this event to himself (e). " As Jonah was three days 
<c and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son 
" of Man be three days and three nights in the heart 
" of the earth !"(/) 

I solemnly protest, I have no other object in view in 
whatever I have written, but the good of man in all his 

best 



(e) 2,ri'j,ziov lava rs Upo^rsl are the very words of Christ. 
Can words be more explicit ? Yet a German professor, J. G. 
Eichhorn, ihe successor of tbe great Michaelis, thinks it ju stiff-* 
able to expel tb? prophetic book of Jonah from the present 
canon of rhe Scripture. See his German Introduction to ik$ 
Old Testament. 

(/) , . " C. 12, V. 40; ' 



£ 257 3 

best interests, complicated as they are, at this awful and 
pressing hour. " More is yet in our power than we may 
even imagine; but all the orders of the state must unite 
vigorously and powerfully in their specific functions to 
preserve it. The priests and ministers of the Lord 
must also stand between the porch and the altar, and 
exert themselves " before their eyes begin to wax dim that 
they may not see, and ere the lamp of God goeth out in 
the temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God 
was!"(£) 

We have reason not only to apprehend the violation and 
invasion of our public sacred establishments, by our 
avowed enemies, but we must guard against negligence and 
desertion in the very posts, where watchfulness and resi~ 
dtnce are more than ever required. I hope we shall see no 
new experiments in the Hierarchy of England. Little is 
to be expected, at a period like the present, from the beauty, 
without the vigour and spirit of holiness. An Archbishop 
or a Bishop in these days, (I speak generally without any- 
particular reference) should do something more than shake 
the honours of his head. In times like these, must no- 
thing but the damps of oblivion, from the brow of a metro- 
politan, be shed largely on the provincial dulness? I think 
not. We should see high exertions of the mind in high 
and hallowed places. Where learning, influence, discretion, 
and authority are united, and in action, much may yet be 
accomplished. 

In the licentiousness of the age, the lowest Minister of 
the Church has much to discharge. There is encourage- 

R jmeafc 

{h) Sara, b. i. c. 3. v. $., 



t *5* 3 

tfient to do so. I think there is still a general disposition 
among us, to attend to the words, the writings, and the 
example of conscientious, and well-instructed Divines, 
who are an honour and a support to their country. There 
is also, and there should be now more than ever, an honest 
indignation against all those who neglect, violate, or 
prostitute the great office. Surely there is no asperity in 
observing generally, that trifling amusements, improper 
places, light and frivolous reading, continual field-sports, 
and the perpetual dissipation of high-viced cities, are not 
the immediate business of a Clergyman : they absolutely- 
unfit him for his profession. 

Say, if such honours bloom around his head, 
Shall he sit sadly by the sick man's bed 
To raise the hope he feels not, and with zeal 
To combat fears, which e'en the pious feel ? 

If we proceed to the supreme dignities of the Hierarchy, 
we shall find there is much of duty in the sacred office. 
Augustine said long ago, (a) " Episcopatus non est arti- 
" ficium transigendae vitae." I remember once when I 
pointed out a sentence on a similar subject from Eusebius 
to A man, who is now an honour to a most important 
function, his heart seemed to burn within him. I was not 
surprised. To men of high and consecrated intellects, who 
are capable of receiving the sublimity of the doctrine, it 
must appear second to none they ever read or felt, for 
its hallowed dignity and the splendour of the diction. To 
iuch I again present it. [b) Much may be yet effected by 

the 

(«) Augustin. Epist. 58, 



t 259 3 

the sacred Consistory for the public good, through each 
gradation of the Ministry. 

I am indeed earnest and vehement in my desire and 
endeavour, that all persons of literature and good sense, 
and lovers of their country, should be convinced to what 
end we may at last be conducted, if we are not aware of our 
danger. When I consider the future condition of Europe 
under the revolutionary tyranny of France, in principles, 
morals, and government, I muse upon the awful strain of 
the Florentine poet : 

' - Si trapassammo per sozza mistura 

Dell 'ombre e della pioggia, a passi lentij 
Toccando un poco la vitafutura ! (c) 

The objects of public regret and offence are nom 
so numerous and so complicated, that all the milder* 
offices of the Muse have lost their influence and 
attraction* It is indeed unfortunate that scarce a subject 

in 

*' sig apccvov /Asrsvyjvey/Asvo/, oicc rivss ©soj, rov rcov licoirwv ztyopoowi 

*' CtOV* i>7lsp T8 7TXVT0S JSVSS UpCV[A£VOi TOO £<Kl TTOCVTCUV ©£&/, -^X 7 ^ 

•' chaQscrei xsKaOapptsvyjs - , opQois %oy^cc<riv QCkr$HS eixts^Ws - , xeciroit 
•* xar ccpzrw epyoiq fs xcu Xoyois^ his ro ©eov e^Asspcevot, r-yjv 
" vTrsp o(poov ccvruV) nan rwv o-Qktiv hiAoyzvm a7roTsX«(nv 
** Upaqyioai. ' Euseb. Demonstrat. Evang. lib. 1. sect. 8. 
When I read such passages as these, and think of the state of 
the world, and it's transitory glories, it is difficult not to feel 
the words of Erasmus in one of his Epistles; *' Saltern daretur 
44 in sacris Uteris tranquille consenescere!" 

(r) Dante Inf. Cant. 6, 

R a 



in literature can be interesting without the science a&cf 
matter of politics, which give a colour to our very' 
thoughts, (f) We are borne down- with a force not to be 

resisted 

«*—— i 1 — »^^ — . - *■■ ♦ .- ■■ .. — -~— _~« — — — . -» . . — . — />. . . . .- - 

(f) " Quibus cccupatus et obsessus animus qUantulum loci* 
<l bonis artibus relinquit V 9 Dialog, de Oratoi ibus, C. 29. 1 
cannot resist giving an opinion at this time. (July 1797.) 

My prime objection to any proposed Ministry of Mr. Fox and 
his adherents is this : I believe their principles are too popular for 
the good, the safety, or perhaps for the existence^ of this coun- 
try, under it's present constitution. I believe, that their design 
is to throw such a weight of power into the House of Com- 
mons, by means of a Reform, as would ultimately mould the two? 
Houses of Parliament not merely into a resemblance, but into 
the actual form and relative power of the Council of Five Hun- 
dred, and the Council of Ancients. I am also of opinion, that 
the authority and influence of the Crown of Great Britain 
would be reduced far below that which is lodged at present irt 
the Executive Directory of France, (a) I think] the proposed 
Reforms lead, beyond a controversy, to this isms. 

I conceive, that a great Personage, in the case of a change of 
Mr. Pitt's Ministry, must be apprehensive, to whom he is to be 
delivered, and to ivhat he may be reduced. The pride of a 
Statesman's understanding, like Mr. Fox's, in the plenitude of 
dignity, will overbear aif ideas of a balance of power in the 
orders of the state, and of the safety of the country, upon it's 
sncient principles. He has declared his opinion ; he must not 
recede. All will be sacrificed to that pride in a moment of 
phrenzy. 

The examples of every state, nation, and city, subdued b^ 
French arms, French principles, and French treachery, are to b© 
weighed well, as an awful warning in this kingdom, which may 
yet be preserved. The encroachments of such a statesman, as Mr* 
,fox, (paramount as he is in ability and in political eloquence 

perha£| 
W J« ] 7 J 797« 



I 261 ] 

resisted, when our very existence, as a nation, under our an- 
cient, 

perhaps beyond any man) are to be watched and resisted by all 
who think soberly, and are independent of party. Yet, in my opi- 
nion, Mr. Fox neither could, nor would, satisfy the raving 
and tyrannical ideas of Home Tooke and the French crew. 
They would make use of him to a certain point, then declare 
him an enemy to his country, and shortly conduct him to the 
scaffold. ** Corpora lente augescunt, cito extinguuntur." (a) 
The security of property, public and private, is shaken by the 
proposed system, and a Revolution (which we never yet have 
known but in mere name) might then be at hand. For what 
was the Revolution in 1688, but the preservation and so- 
lemn recognition of the Hereditary Monarchy of this Realm, and 
of all its ancient laws and government ? These are the Revolution 
Principles, which Britons are called upon to maintain unshaken, 
unaltered, and unimpaired, 

A government which once relaxes, is not easily recalled to the 
vigour of it's ancient principles. We have among us statesmen 
of determined and of true patriotism, and this final misery may 
yet be prevented. We have a King, who has courage, virtue, 
and firmness. Of his Minister, the Right Hon. Wm. Pitt, I 
have given my opinion often in another place ; I have not al- 
tered my sentiments. 

I certainly cannot say of the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
with the great Satirist under Louis the 14th, 

«' Que ma vue a Colbert inspiroit l'allegresse."(£) 
1 speak, and I have spoken, most impartially of Mr. Pitt. 
I am neither for a proscription of any political talents, nor for 
an hereditary claim to the public office of Prime Minister. 
JBut if the principles of any statesman are such, as to induce a 
teal and effectual change in the government, that statesman should 
not be admitted to rule. If the ancient and established prin- 

R 3 ciples 

(a) Tacit, Agric. ap. ink. (i) Boilesu, Ep. 10, 



[ 262 ] 

cient laws, and constitution, and establishments, has been 
rendered dubious, 

I would 



ciples of the English constitution are maintained, a Prime 
Minister may conduct public affairs, even with a mediocrity 
of talents. It is neither Mr. Pitt, nor Lord Lansdown, nor 
Mr. Fox, nor Mr. Grey, who are necessary to the function. 
But, by the disastrous consent of the whole nation and it's 
Parliament, thinking rightly, proposing soundly, and meaning 
honestly, are nothing without speaking well. 

Let me add a word or two on a subject not quite foreign to 
this note. The example of a very learned and, in my opinion, 
of a very' virtuous and honourable man, to whom the country 
5s under much obligation, Mr. Reeves, will deter any man 
from volunteer effusions in favour of any Minister. It would 
not be amiss, to be sure, if Mr. R. or any other writer, would 
read Aristotle and Quintilian on tropes and metaphors, before 
he adorns his native language with all the richness of imagery, 
and exerts the command, which nature gives him, over the 
figures of speech. Trunco, non frondibus, efficit umbram. For 
my own part, when his pamphlet, u The Thoughts on the 
I* English Government," was published, I never felt more 
indignation than when I saw this gentleman ungenerously and 
shamefully abandoned, and given up by Mr. Pitt in the H. of 
Commons to the malice of his avowed enemies, and to a crimi* 
nal prosecution in the Court of King's Bench. He was so- 
lemnly acquitted of any libellous intentions; but his language 
was imprudent : he fell a victim to metaphorical luxuriance 

and state-botanv. {a) 

It 

(a) See " Thoughts on the English Government," p. 12 and 
13, for Mr, Reeves's Simile of the Constitutional Tree and it's 
Jkanches. 



C 263 ] 

I would particularly recommend the serious perusal 
of the account given by Thucydides of the democratic 
sedition in Corcyra. The reader would be convinced, 
that the same peculiarities mark all popular seditions and 
insurrections, the same pretexts, and the same motives. The 
insurgents declare the friends of the lawful and established 
government enemies to the popular representation and in- 
terest* Some of these insurgents have private enmities 
to revenge, and others have debts to cancel. Death is the 
universal solvent, (ff) The historian observes, that they 
held forth either the specious offer of greater equality of 
power among the citizens^ or a more temperate form of aris* 
tocracy, or some state expedient varying with the hour ; 
but each leader in reality had his own private views of 

ambition, 



It was the deep and important observation of Aristotle; 
Ef (ASTatpopeiv £<tt*v su (dsupziv. See also the tenth chapter of 
Aristotle's Rhetoric, book 3. which I recommend to all poli- 
tical writers and speakers ; De Urbanis Metaphoris, or wepi rcov 
*c-T£icov t koci rav ev^oju^wruv. Those great critics, Messrs, 
Fox and Sheridan, differed however essentially from Aristotle 
in this point, m their Commentaries read publicly in the H. of 
C. on this text: Twv Mera(popa;v svhy.i^acrt f^ocXicrrcK. on x«t» 
•tvaAoyjav. (b) (1797.) 

(ff) Hear the great Historian : Tnv (xsv curiav emQepwres 

TQIS TOV AojpCOV KKTCXXVHGIV. AtTsOccVOV TiVSf l$lOt$ S%Bp<Xf IVEKiK, 

xcci aXKoi xfiQ/xarwy uQmv o(pzi\o[A£vcov vtto rm XaSovTuv. 
L.3. Sect. 8 1, , 

(£) Arist. Rhet. L. 3. c. 10. sect. 3* 
R 4 



t 264 ] 

ambition, or power, or riches, but accommodated his 
speeches to the prevailing humour of the day. (g) 

This, as we all know, has been transacted step by step 
upon a great and tremendous scale in France. The Italian 
and Belgian states are following them with headstrong 
and infuriate revolution. We have indeed more to 
preserve THAN ANY other Country under heaven; 
and we may, by wise regulations, hereafter restore even 
the finances of the state. We must never forget that the 
stability of our present Constitution is the sole stability 
of all property, public and private* I speak from 
awful and trembling conviction, Our Ruin can be 
effected by political Reform alone: and our 
Enemies at home, and in France, know that I speak 
the truth. We in Great Britain, who are yet in a con- 
dition to preserve ourselves, see and read and feel these 
things. The grant of one demand leads necessarily to ano- 
ther, when any material alteration in a state or govern- 
ment is conceded. If the second is refused after the first 
has been granted, we are then told, that there is a want of con- 
sistence in the plan, and that it were more adviseable to have 
kept the state as it was, than to admit only a partial reform. 

We 



(g) Hear Thucydides again in his own language. Oi sv 
rar, Ttdteani irpooracvrzs [azt ovoixocto; Ixacrroj Ev7?ps7r£s, 7rXn9ss 
Icrovo/xtas - itokiTwris, kou Apio-royipocriocs cwtypcvos •KpoTiprxTzi rot, 
/Asv xoiva, XoyoJ Qspomzvovres a9\oc zttoihvto, mown £s rpoitot 
«cy&>vi£o/xsvoi aAX^Awv irspiyiyvscQar trtikywooov re rot Seivorarot, 
z7rs%viE<7a.vrs, ras rtftajpias sri peifa, » ^%P l Tb &*«*« Kixl Ty ) 
iroXsi %v(j,(popv 9 TTporiQevrsg, es Ss to m&ripois ttv ooi&i vftovnv 
s% ov bpifyvTES, xou n {Azra, ^(pa. aoiTW 7tatrayvu(reojq 9 *n yj-\pi 

%TCOfA£V0l TO xpuTElV, £T0l[A0l IHTOtV r r /iV UVTlKOi (plXoVSJKJ^V 5£4* 

sr^Aayau L. 3, Sect. 82. » 



■ C 265 ] 
We surely cannot be said to be duped and fooled by 
Reformers, without warning from history and from ex- 
perience. The constitutional statesmen of Great Britain 
cannot now be ignorant of the nature of a Modern 
Reform in any state of Europe. The greater the diffi- 
culty and danger, the greater the fury of the Revolutionists. 
Pindar was a poet and a statesman ; he said, AirpoaLKrut 

TLpOJTUV 0%UT£pO!,l (JtOCVlOU'* 

A man of a poetical mind either wanders into futurity, 
or recals the images of other times and of other empires- 
He can sometimes even descend into the regions of terrific 
fable, and give to his own country the sentiments and pas- 
sions of antiquity; he can body forth contending parties 
which are no more, of the virtuous and the valiant, of the 
%vicked, the desperate, and the frantic. At such an hour as 
the present, and with the objects which we see and hear and 
feel, with the exultation of the bad, and the dejection of 
the good, and the labours of great statesmen to preserve 
us from Jinal misery, can we forbear to contemplate the 
picture -drawn by that poet, whose only Muses were Caesar, 
and Brutus, and Cato, and the genius of expiring Rome.i 

Tristis felicibus umbris 
Vultus erat\ vidi Decios, natumque patremque, 
Lustrales bellis animas, fientemque Camillum. 
Abruptis Catilina minax fractisque catenis 
Exultat, Mariique truces nudique Cethegi. 
Vidi ego laetantes, popularia nomina, Drusos 
Legibus immodicos, ausosque ingentia Gracchos. 
,/Eternis chalybum nodis, et carcere Ditis 
Constricta plausere ??ianus, campos^UE piorum 
^OSCIT TURBA NOCENS! (gg) 

The 
f Nem. Od. ir. f Lucan. Pharsal. JL6. v. 7S4. 



L 266 I 

The present Poem was not composed for a trivia? pur- 
pose, nor without mature thought. It is the fruit and study 

of 

(gg) In the great question of a Reform in Parliament (i.e. 
in the House of Commons) I certainly do not mean to call 
the Ministerial ground figuratively the Cam/zi Piorum; but I 
call the Constitution of England, and it's defenders, in or out 
of Parliament, by that name. Nor would I by any means rank 
the gentlemen ~of opposition with the Turba nocens. That turba 
nocens are the levellers and the partisans of democracy and revo- 
lution. But the licence of poetry we are told is considerable, 
if assumed with modesty. The question itself has nothing to 
do with invention, though, as I think, much fiction is employed 
in the support of it. I am of opinion, that in the outset there 
is a fiction, or a deceit. 

We are told, we must recur to the original principle of the 
H. of Commons ; the principle, as I suppose, on which it was 
founded ; and that principle is declared to be popular in the 
modnn sense of that word. In this argument historical truth 
is not asserted ; I would maintain, that it is violated; it is 
contrary to matter of fact. The very origin of the House 
itself (the best antiquaries will tell you so) is rather doubtful. 
The more remote your enquiry, the greater the demonstration 
of it ? s original weakness, nay (I say it with grief) of it's political 
insignificance ; it was a Council, which grew out of a greater 
Council. I will not insult my reader with information on the. 
subject ; but it is a matter of plain historical knowledge that 
it's powers, it's functions, it's freedom, and it's consequence 
have been all progressive to a certain period. That period was 
the Revolution (as it is foolishly and improperly called) in 
2688. At that sera the House of Commons, under the Old Whigs ; 
attained to the consummation of it's glory, and to the fulness of 
it's dignity. As I here speak of the original principle^ I have 
nothing to do with the subsequent corruptions. 

a I must 



/ 
/ 

/ 



[ **7 ] 

of an independent and disinterested life, passed without 

the 



I must own, I do not wish for the famous Roman plate of 
brass; I am for no unqualified Lex Regia* Let it rest in the 
Capitoline Museum, that splendid effort of Michael Angelo. I 
abhor abject servility and all it's monuments ; and I never wished, 
I am sure I do not now wish, to see any Senate divest itself of 
all power. I would not see a Vespasian in any country make 
and repeal laws, or exercise unlimited authority, without the 
advice and consent of a well-constituted Senate. 
Aspice gentem, 
Romanosque tuos\ poscas genus inde Latinum, 
Non Byzantinos proceres, Graiosque Quirites! 

I venerate the institution of the House of Commons, and 
would preserve it with my life; but I shall raise up no tree, 
trunk, or branches, for a fatal simile, like Mr. Reeves. I 
look for no pasture in the fields of Ministers or of Booksellers ; 
I would not be turned out by Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan to 
graze on the verdant lawns of the King's Bench, (once intended 
for the Chief Justice of Newfoundland); nor would I be re- 
duced to grub and delve in Mr. Pitt's Straw-yard, I neither 
recur to Montesquieu nor to Machiavel : I want not to be told 

by 



* See a Dissertation " de iEnea Tabula Capitolina Romae 
" 1757." Heineccius and Gravina also published this " Lex 
•■ Regia." It may be read at full length in Gruteri Inscript: 
Antiq. By this Law the Roman Senate, in the most abject stile, 
authorised Vespasian to make and repeal laws, to declare peace 
and war, and to exercise every act of an absolute sovereign, 
without waiting for their consent, or even asking their advice. 
This authority however was not granted to all the Emperors in- 
discriminately ; they selected (before Vespasian) Augustus, Tibe- 
rius, and Claudius. 1 leave the reader to his own reflections. 



[ 268 ] 

ttbc incumbrance of a profession, or the embarrassment of 

business. 

by the former, that " our system was found in the woods;" nor 
to- hear from Signor Machiavel and Mr. Fox, that " States may 
!" grow out of shape" 

Such were the words of Machiavel cited by Mr. Fox in the 
H. of C. on May 26, 1797, in his speech on the Reform of Par- 
liament. The founders of the French Republic, and the Re- 
founders of it (for it hss been founded three times already) seem 
ahoays to have had Machiavel's Discourses on Livy in their view. 
He says, that if any power or powers, (princes, warriors, or 
demagogues) take or eubdue any city, province, or realm, 
"■they should male all things new in the state" The words are 
ixj est particular : " Favecgni cosa di nucvo in quello stato, nelle 
** Ciita fare nuovi governi con nuovi nomi, eon nuova autorita, 
6{ con nuovi uomini, fare ipoveri ricchi,disfare delle vecchiecitta, 
64 carnbiare gli abitatori da un luogo ad un altro, e in somma, 
41 non lasciare cosa niuna intatta, e che non vi sia ne grado, ne 
ct ordine, ne stato, ne richezza,che chi la tienenon la riconosca 
6C da te!"* The French have religiously observed the advice. 

We are told in the H. of C. by Mr. Fox, that the authority of 
Machiavel is great. In my opinion, all Tyranny is uni- 
form in it's maxims. But the Signori, Machiavel and Fox> 
still tell us, that '* States may grow out of shape." For my own 
part indeed, I would rather find a system in the woods, than 
in modern France; and I do not look for a new political 
Dancing Master, every time there is a twist in the body. 

To hear Mr. Fox, as I perpetually do in the House, one would 
really think he was a rival toVestris or Didelot. He has been long 
trying his art, and giving lessons to Mr. Pitt gratis. That Right 
Honourable Gentleman's gait however still continues as auk- 
ward and stifFas usual ; he will not bend. A graceful bow is not 

* Machiavel. Discorsi. Lib. 1. Cap. 6. 



[ s6g 3 
business. It was not intended merely to raise a smile at 

folly 



ins ambition, and Mr. Fox danCes before him every day without 
the least effect. Mr. Fox, I believe, is of the opinion and prin- 
ciple of Monsieur Marcel, the famous dancing master in Queen 
Anne's reign, who said, when the Earl of Oxford was made 
Prime Minister, " He was surprised, and could not tell what 
" the Queen could see in him, for his own part lie never could 
" make any thing of him." To be sure Mr. Pitt is every day 
placed between the dancing master and his man, but he 
has not yet learned grace from Mr. Fox, nor wit from Mr. 
Sheridan* 

Indeed I have been informed that the three celebrated Dancers 
and Ballet masters, Messrs. Fox, Sheridan, and Grey, are pre- 
paring a new Serious Divertissement, or Pasde Trois, with new 
scenes, dresses and decorations, called, " Le Directoirs 
" Executif/' If it can be got up time enough, it will be brought 
forward this season; but as there is a necessity for a reinforce- 
ment of the troop from Paris, it is feared the old dance must 
continue to the end of this season, June 1797. It is proposed 
that light should be thrown on the stage in a quite new manner;, 
"but the Ballet-Masters will suffer no persons to be on the stage, 
or to view the machinery behind the scenes. Lord Galloway 
and Lady Mary Duncan hare expressed their approbation of 
this rule, so much for the interest of the Grand Opera; 
though the noble Earl is contented with the present Grand Ballet" 
Master. (June 1797.) 

On a kindred topic I would observe to the classical reader 
another singular circumstance in ancient times; it is from the 
jRoman State. Since we have been all arming at home with 
alacrity and prudence, and (what is consequent to that) with 
effect^ against our inveterate and implacable Enemy ; and as the 
jmilitia laws nave been extended, it is curious to call to mind the 

emphatic 



^ 



[ 2 7° ] 
folly or conceit; but it was written with indignation 

against 

emphatic clause in the antient Roman law concerning the 
exemption of particular persons from military service, called 
** De Vacatione," as learned Civilians well know. The 
clause is this: " Niii Bellum Gallicum exoriatur;" in 
which case not even the Priests were exempted. I will 
illustrate this law from Plutarch and Cicero. 

Plutarch has this singular remark in the life of Marcellus \ 
ijv (A7iv ocXka. /xsyav ri re %cvp<z <7rccps%s (poCav, <W rnv ysiTVitzoiv, 
l(j,opco xoct Trpvoixw 7ro?.E/x&; wvoiaofAsvoif, aai ro ttmXouov 
ahcvfMsc toov TxXoctwv (i. e. the Gauls or French) ovs ^aXiaroi. 

uttoSixXovtes, e^ zxeiw 5s Oeposvot Nopoov, oltsKsk; stvoci 
VTpxrsiocs ths Ispsas - , <7r\w si ysn ITotkocrixos Tiockiv sKEhQoi 
IIoXe/xos-. ESViXfcj 5s xoci rov (poCov aurcov r> ts Ylocpx.GY.zur)'' 
JAvquxSzs yap sv hwXcis ct^a. rocacvroci Pw/xaicyv arc flrpoTspov 
*rs varspov ysvsaQxi Xeycvrai. (c) 

The other illustration is from Cicero in his oration for Fon- 
teius j (the object of which was to inculcate, " Gallis fidem 
•' non habendam, hominibus levibus, perfidis, et in ipsos Deos 
** immcrtales impiis.") The words are these; " Ut oportet, 
" Bello Gallico, ut majorum jura moresque praescribunt, 
*' Nemo est, Civis Romanus, qui sibi ulla excusatione utendum 
?< putet." {J) 

We have not, and I trust we never shall have, the same caustf 
for apprehension from the French as the Romans had from the 
Gauls. They never have taken our city, and while we are 
true to ourselves, as we now are, I trust they never will or can 
take it. But the danger is, and ever will be great, from their 
vicinity, lia, rm ysirviaaiv. The words are from Plutarch; 

Mr # 

(c) Plut. Vit. Marcelli, p. 244. vol. 2. edit. Bryan. 

(d) Orat. pro Fonteio, Sect. 16. Cic. Op. edit. Barbou, 
vol. 4. p. 393. 



[ 2 7* 3 

against wickedness, against the prostitution of superior 
talents, and the profane violence of bad men. It was in- 
deed (to use the poet's allusion) poured forth as a libation 
from the cup of Achilles, consecrated and appropriated; 
Ovtb T£0) crevSedKE Gswv, org /X7j All TLxrpt» 

It is proposed, in it's degree and according to it's sub- 
ject, for the defence of truth, and with an honest wish to 
uphold society and the best interests of mankind, but 
chiefly those of our own country. In it there are no ima- 
ginary subjects. I have raised no phantoms of absurdity 
merely to disperse them; but the words, the works, the 
sentiments, and often the actions of the authors are before 
us. It may be known hereafter from this poem, how we 
wrote and thought in this age, and not unfrequently how 
we conducted ourselves. 

Experiar, quid sacra juvent, an falsus Apollo.* 

There is one subjectt which I have pressed upon the 
attention of the nation, which in this respect seems to be 
in a state between slumber and alarm ; in the supineness 
which attends the former, and with that confusion in 
ideas and measures, which too frequently accompanies 
terror. Compassion, mercy, self preservation, integrity of 
principle, christian charity, the uncertainty of the mortal 
condition, the convulsion of empires and of states, have 

all 

Mr. Burke has written the commentary, (d) Vocem adyti 
dignam templo! (July 1797.) 

* Stat. 1. 10. 

f See Dial. III. from v. 81 to v. 134, with the notes, first 
published in May 1796. 

(d) Two Letters on the Peace; (ed, Rirington 1796.) p, 113, &c. 



C 272 ] 

all and each variously conspired to direct the measures of 
our government, with respect to the French Roman Ca- 
tholic Emigrants, and in particular, to the French Priests. 
I have stated in different places my opinion on this impor- 
tant subject. 

I continue to call aloud upon this country and it's 
ministers to regard, with minute circumspection, these 
men and their cause, [hh) The most reprehensible 
part of Mr. Burke's public conduct has been in this points 
Great and venerable as I hold him, in this I praise him not. 
I can distinguish, as well as he can, those who have forsaken 
successful wickedness, and followed, what they esteemed, 
oppressed and exiled virtue. But, as a Body, I maintain that 
the vigilance of the Roman Catholics is erect, and on the 
tiptoe of expectation: it is scarcely suspended by slumber. 

I speak also on another account. There is such a con- 
nection between superstition and atheism, and their allies, 
cruelty and tyranny, that the wisest and most experienced 
statesmen and moralists have declared it to be indissoluble. 
In their cause, they would unite with any, even with Ja- 
cobin, principles. 

Hear Dr. Hussey the titular Bishop of Waterford in 
Ireland in his late pastoral Letter, [i) " The Catholic 

" Faith. 



(hh) July 1797. 

(/) See " A Pastoral Letter to the Catholic Clergy of Wa- 
u terford and Lismorein Ireland, by the R. R. Doctor Hussey. * 
London, reprinted by P. Coghlan, Duke-street, Grosvenor- 
square. 1797. His titular Lordship's idea of " a man of true 
liberality is this; that he lives in charity, in concord, in amity, 
with ail others of every religious persuasion 5 with whom a 

difference 



[ 2 73 ] 
¥ ^Aith (i. e* the tenets> the doctrine^ the fupeffli- 

M tions, 

if difference in religious opinion makes no difference in 
" social life, &c; &c, * (p. 6.) Very liberal indeed ; this 
is the text. But his Lordship, singularly enough, has prefixed 
the comment. See the preceding page; the words are these: 
•" Remonftrate (says his Lordship) with any parent, who 
•' will be so criminal as to expose his offspring to those places 
" of education (the Charter Schools, &c. &c. as I suppose) 
" where his religious faith and morals are likely to be pe'r- 
" verted. If he -will not attend to your remonftrances, (he is 
*' speaking to the Roman Catholic CJergy) refuse him the parti- 
" cipation of Chrift's body; if he should still c&hii hue ohstinate^ 
u denounce him to the Church, in order that^ according 
u to Chrift's commandment, he he considered as a heathen and a 
" Jtublican." p. $. We know the sense of Christ ; and we know 
the sense which the Roman Catholic Church annexes to these 
words. But this is Liberality !! ! 

Hear his titular Lordship once more. Speaking of the total 
repeal of the Popery Laws in Ireland, he warns those who oppose 
it, in these terms, p. 10. " The vast rockzV already detached 
sl from the mountain** brow y and whoever opposes it's descent 
tl and removal, must be crushed by his own rash eridea- 
" yours." 

Is the common sense of England and Ireland drunk? Or if 
it has slept, will it not now awake? Can ari£ man say, that 
the political spirit of the Roman Catholic religion is extinct, 
that it is dead, or that it is dying? This titular bishop warns us 
plainly enough. He has rocks and mountains at command ; 
and the powers of nature, in their gigantic admeasurements^ 
appear at his great bidding. In Ireland it might be of use to 
discuss this Pastoral Letter in toto"* IfT were an Irishman, I 
would do so; but the business in England isyet different. Let 
me add a word or two on the general question. 

S 1% 



E ??4 ] 
u tioris, the absurdities, the folliek, the cruelty, and the 

*' tyranny, 

It may be worth while at this period, when all establishments 
are shaking, to consider frequently, that " a Religious Esta. 
€e blishment, under any form, is not the rehgion itself, but the 
J* mode of preserving, inculcating, and continuing the religion. '* 
There is a religion which may be and is political, and another 
which is real. I will give a passage from the admirable Preface 
to the translation of Xenophon's Cyropaedia, written with great 
compas'ss of thought and precision of argument, by a gentleman. 
of fortune, family, erudition, and virtue, the Hon. Maurice 
Ashley. I cannot refrain from observing with pleasure, that 
LoRp M almsbury and myself may have a natural partiality for 
the memory of^that accompli ftied and well inftructed gentleman. 
"Real Christianity (says he) is none of these changeable esta- 
" blishmentsand human institutions, nor ever can be, but stands 
u vjion it's own foot, Whetherit.be the religion of the multi- 
" tude, and national or not national, or whatever be the forms 
<c of it in national establishments, it is one and the same in itself 
.*' firm and unalterable,, and will undoubtedly remain fo to the 
" end of the world, whether owned or not owned by any public 
*' establishment indifferently. "(a) 

I enter not into the expedience, institution, and relative ex- 
cellence of religious establishments in this place. It is not here 
the question: if'it were, I am not without my fentiments, nor 
without words to enforce them. I hope indeed we may, and 
shall, still- justify the, expressions of a great writer : 'J We are 
" separated from the error?,and freed from the chains of Popery, 
M without breaking out into a state of religious anarchy'' But I 
give Mr. Ashley's words as agenera.1 observation to' all those who 

esteem 

(a) Mr. Ashley's Preface, p. 8. 



f 2 75 ] 
•' tyranny, of the Church of Rome, and whatever makes k 
" to differ from any other external establishment of Chris- 
V tianity) The Catholic Faith (says his titular Lordship) 
" is suitable to all climes, and to all forms of government, 
" monarchies or republics, aristocracies or D e moc r ac i es. m 
(p. 9.) Right. Does his Lordship speak intelligibly? 

That which is true of Christianity in itself and by itself 
alone, independant of any establishment whatsoever, that they 
assert of their own tyrannical superstition. They v?ill shew 
the arm and the sword of heaven interested and active/^r 
them. They will tell you whenever they have the power, 
(or even the probability of attaining that power) that their 
cause alone is from above. They separate their spiritual 
rulers from the temporal governors of the state, and 
assert the superior dignity and paramount authority of the 
former; and this they thunder in the ears of an armed sol- 
diery. They tell you, that the opposers of the Roman 
Catholic cause are sacrilegious in the eye of heaven; and 

that 

: »■■■ ■ ■■! .1 ■ « 1 »i 1 1 ■ ' , mmm » ... »i .. . ■ ■ i n « 1 1 

esteem the downfall of such an establishment, as Popery, to be the 
downfall of the Christian religion, than which no opinion cart 
be more unfounded. To the Roman Catholic system of religion, 
whether in it's vigour and plenitude of power, or in it's struggles 
for revival, the words of the poet may be applied figuratively, 
and literally : 

In sua templa/Vr/V, nullaque exire vetante 
Materia, magnamque cadens magnamque revertent 
Dat stragem late, spar8QSoue recolligit igne$. % 

* Lucan, L. 1. 
S % 



[ * 7 6 ] 

that upon them, in a mass, the great stone will fall 
and grind them to powder. 

I know the state of Ireland, (b) and the declarations o£ 
the titular bishops in that country. But that subject is not 
properly mine, though it is intimately connected with it. 
All I have to do is to shew, (and I think I have shewn it to 
all who will attend to what I have written,) that " the Spirit 
" of the Roman, Catholic (c) System is yet unaltered." In 

England 

(h) There is something peculiarly ungrateful in the conduct of 
this titular Bishop of Waterford. Particular attention has been 
paid to Dr. Hussey by the administration of Ireland, as Lord 
Camden knows. But in this country I should hardly be under- 
stood, if I were to enumerate the particulars which I know. I 
have spoken in terms very moderate indeed of this Pastoral 
Letter, under the circumstances of it's publication. My reprehen- 
sion has been confined to the spirit of it. It will be perceived by 
some persons, that I write SyveToiffj. 

Talibus exadyto dictis Cumjea Sibylla 
Horrendas canit ambages, antroque remugit 
Obscurisvera involvensl C 1 797') 

(c) For the spirit of system in the Roman Catholics of the 
highest abilities and learning, let us refer to the great and eloquent 
Bossuet, in his oration on the death of the Duchess of Orleans, 
on the 21st of August 1670. Speaking of Henrietle J'Aitgletene, 
he declares that God overthrew the monarchy of England under 
Cromwell, to restore her to the bosom of the Roman Catholic 
Church; which he calls u Les merveilles que Dieu a faites pour 
" le salut eternel de Henriette d'Angleterre! Pour la donner 
•*' a l'Eglise, il afallu ren<verser tout un grand Roy aume. Si les 
'« loix de PEtat s'opposent a son salu eternel, Dieu ebranlera tout 

" VEiat 



[ V7 ] 
England the French Priests, in a body, have been chased 
from the King's Castle at Winchester : but our government 
has yet a sacred fortress or two at Reading and Shene, and in 
Yorkshire : and it appears that a sum of One Hundred 
and Forty thousand pounds (b) has been issued for 
the use of the French Emigrants, sacred and profane, in the 
course of the year 1796. This is ratified by the vote 
of Parliament. On this particular topic 1 shall say nothing 
further in this place. 

All which I have written on this great subject is in the 
spirit of mercy, humanity, toleration, and true Christianity, 

consistent 

•* VEtatfiour Vaffranchir de ces loixl" But he adds a sublime 
apostrophe, remarkable and awful. " Me permettez vous, O 
*' Seigneur, Tenvisager, en tremblant, vos saints et redoutables 
il conseils ! Est ce que les terns de confusion ne sent /tar encor accent- 
" pits?'' The successors of the Bishop of Meaux have foun4 
indeed that those times were not accomplished. 

He then wishes for tie conversion of England to the Roman 
Catholic faith, of which the disposition of Charles the Secondand 
his Brother gave him some hope. " Nous souhahons /trinci/tak- 
* * ment^que 1'Angleterr E>trop libre dans sa croyance, trop licentzeuse 
" dans ses sentimens, soit enchaime comme nous de ces bienheureux 
* l liens (i. e. de la Foi Catholique) qui empechent Porgueil hu~ 
if main de s'egarer dans ses pensees, en la captivant sous VautoriU 
41 du Saint Esprit et de l'Eglise." I forbear any further re- 
marks. See Recueil des Oraisons Funebres de Bossuet. edit. 
Paris, 1762. i2mo. p. 91 et 93. 

(b) On the 2 1 st Dec. 1796, " The House of Commons in a 
11 Committee of Supply, among other sums, voted a sum of 
** 140,0001. for the relief of the suffering clergy and laity of 
rl France." 

S3 



C *;8 ] 

consistent with the principles of an English Protestant, 
and with that rational and guarded love to my Country 
which I am bound, according to my ability, to warn, to 
vindicate, and to defend. 

Such are my serious and solemn meditations, such are the 
extended views before me, amid the volumes of bards, and 
sages, and historians, the venerable and instructive records 
of times which are no more, as I sit apart from the world in 
silence and in solitude ; or the language of the Poet, 

Are§ 'hpizvos ccWojv 

The subjects of this poem have been from necessity 
various and numerous, far beyond my original conceptions* 
But a mighty and majestic river, in its course through a 
diversity of countries, not only winds and murmurs in 
the vallies, but contends and foams among rocks, and 
precipices, and the confluence of torrents : still it's tendency 
js to the ocean, to which it pays it's last tribute and is 
finally lost in that immensity. 

In Literature the mind resembles such a course; all it's 
exertions may be turned into one grand and general direction. 
The mind, if well regulated, remembers from whence it 
came, and feels that all its powers and faculties are but minis* 
terial. I think it is somewhere expressed in the concise sub- 
limity of Plato, Tlpos ro acihov sCXs^tev. Under the influence 
and persuasion of this great and master principle, the mind 
so prepared, whether serious, or gay, or thoughtful, or 
sprightly, or even fantastic in its humour, is still per- 
forming its proper office. Philosophy and criticism can- 
not reach some subjects, which sap the foundation and 

support 



£ 2 79 ] 
support of well-being. Playfulness, ridicule, wit, an4 
humour, are the auxiliaries and light-armed forces of truth ; 
and their power, in detachments, is equally felt with the 
main ftrength of the body. 

There is one description and set of men, to whom more 
than common reprehension is due; and who cannot be 
held up too frequently to the public scorn and abhorrence : 
I mean the' modern philosophers of the French system. 
Mr. Burke has thundered upon them, and his lightning 
shone through their darkest recesses. " The sudden blaze 
y far round illumined Hell." This monstrous compound 
of the vanity and weakness of the intellect, and the fury of 
the passions in some of them, this " facinus majorisaboila?," 
should be exposed with the full strength of argument 
and of reason, and with occasional ridicule, to the English 
nation in every point of view. 

In other philosophers of this system there is a calmness 
and composure in their mental operations, more savage than 
the violence of the former. Their subject is the living man. 
Before them he is delivered, bound hand and foot. On him 
their experiments are to be tried ; and when his whole com- 
position, moral and political, is either racked, or disjointed, 
or the minuter parts of it laid bare to the eye, and the very 
circulation of the fluids, as it were, shewn in the agonizing 
subject ; this they savagely call, studying and improving 
human nature by the new light* But I will not proceed 
on this subject. Great and venerable is the name and influ- 
ence of the true philosophy : the word may be disgraced 
for a season, but the love of wisdom must always command 
respect. When we compare these modern philosophers,who 
S 4 reject 



C 280 3 

reject all revelation, with the philosophers of antiquity, and 
in particular those of the Stoic sect, who were ignorant of 
it, the difference, to say no more, is indeed striking. What 
were Socrates, and Plato, and Epictetus, and Cicero, and 
Antoninus ! Before such lights, shining in the darkness and 
gloom of the heathen firmament, 

Conditur omne 
Stellarum vulgus, fugiunt sine nomine Signa. (dj 

As I am speaking of Philosophy, I may be excused if I 
say a few words concerning that language, in which it's 
power has been most conspicuous. I see no more pedantry 
in the knowledge and study of the Greek tongue, than of 
the French or the German. But when I consider that every 
subject in philosophy, in history, in oratory, and in poetry, 
whatever can dignify or embellish human society in it's 
most cultivated state, has found in that language the highest 
authors ; that the principles of composition are better taught, 
and more fully exemplified in the Greejc writers than in any 
other; and that they are the acknowledged universal legisla- 
tors in taste, criticism, and just composition, from whom/there 
is no appeal, and who will be found unerring directors ; I 
would with a peculiar emphasis and earnestness request young 
men of fortune, ability, and polished education, not to cast 
off the study of the Greek writers, when they leave school, or 
the university. A few hours devoted to this study in every 
week will preserve and improve their knowledge of it, which 
will animate the whole mass of their learning, and give 
colour to their thoughts and precision to their expressions. 
There is no neceffity either to cite or to speak Greek ; but 
the constant perusal of the historians, philosophers, orators, 

and 

fJJ Manil. Astron, L. 1. v. 470. 



[ *8» 1 

and poets will be felt and perceived. In parliament and 
at the bar it will be most conspicuous, [a) They who 
are wise will secretly attend to this recommendation which 
must be disinterested, and proceeds from long experi- 
ence. 

In regard to the manner and the plan of this Poem on the 
P. of h. I have something to say, but my respect to the 
reader prevents me from saying much. It aspires not to 
the manner or the praise of the Dunciad, or to any 
thing whatsoever in common with that great performance. 
The original motive of it however is, in my opinion, as 
far superior in importance and dignity, as the power and 
ability of the author fall short of that poetical excellence, 
which none hereafter can hope to rival, or perhaps to 
attain. It's general subject is Literature however 

exerted 

(a) Plutarch describes Marcellus, (the first of that distin- 
guished race) as a warrior of experience and intrepidity, humane 
and polished in his manners, and a great lover of Greek 
literature; his words are these : Tn /xev £ps,7Z£ifiz <7roXepuxo; # 

rr, tyucci d^ikonoXz^os' rev £s ocXKoj rpoizw cutypcov, <pika,vQpa)'Bos 9 

As we have now so many gentlemen of fortune, family t education, 
and ability, among the officers of the army, the militia, and in all 
the Volunteer Corps, (to whom the kingdom is so deeply indebted, 
and by whose disinterested exertions, generosity, and patriotism 
our internal and domestic peace is maintained and secured); 
I wish they ma^ read this note, and be induced to employ some 
of their vacant hours in valuable studies; and, like the great 
chiefs among the ancients, resume and vindicate the honour of 
learned military leisure. (1797.) 

* Plutarch. Vit. Marcelli. p. 242, v. 2. edit*. Bryan* 



[ ** ] 

exerted, whether for the benefit, or for the injury of 
mankind. It has nothing of the mock epic ; it is a 
dialogue, has something of a dramatic cast, and is an 
excursus. The subjects follow each other; and, if I 
am not mistaken, they are neither confounded nor con* 
fused.. 

If there be in the whole composition any passage, 
any sentence, or any expression, which according to the 
specific nature of the subject, can justly offend even fe- 
male delicacy; which, from the manner of it, a gentleman 
would refuse to write, or a man of virtue to admit into his 
thoughts ; which violates the high, and discriminating, and 
honourable, and directing principles of human conduct, it 
is to me matter of serious and of solemn regret. I am not 
conscious of having admitted any such passage, or sentence, 
©r expression. I have never yet heard such an objection 
to my work ; but if it can be pointed out, I will erase it with 
much concern, and with great indignation. In the sin- 
cerity of my judgment I have adopted, and will forever 
adopt, the words and spirit of the Theban Poet: 
Ai-.cotv aiv/irx, pto/x- 
tyzv ¥ eTrirmeipojv <z}jrpctc. (/) 

I should also offer a few words concerning^ manner of 
the notes which I have annexed, and which are so frequent 
and so copious. I wished not, as Boileau expresses it, 
to prepare tortures for any future Salmasius (g); and I 
know too well my own insignificance to expect any. com- 
ment on my writings, but from my own pen, I have 
made no allusions which I did not mean to explain : but I 
had also something further in my intention. The notes are 

not 



{/) Paid. Nem. 8. 

{£) " Aux Saumaises futurs preparer des tortures." 

Boil. Sat, 9. v. 6$.. 



C 283 3 

not always merely explanatory ; they are (if I have been 
able to execute my intention) of a structure rather peculiar 
to themselves. Many of them are of a nature between an 
•essay and an explanatory comment ; and they contain much 
matter in a little compass, suited to the exigency of the 
times. As they take no particular form of composition, 
they are not matter of criticism in that particular respect* 
I have expatiated on the cafual fubject which presented 
itself; and when ancient, or modern writers expressed the 
thoughts better than I could myself, I have given them, 
in the original languages. 

No man has a greater contempt for the parade of 
citation (as such) than I have. My design is not to 
cite words, but to enforce right sentiments in the manner 
which I think best adapted to the purpose, after much 
reflection. To most of my readers those languages are 
familiar ; but if any person, not particularly conversant 
in them, should honour the notes with a perusal, I think 
•the force of the observations may be felt without attending 
to the Greek or Latin. In all regular compositions t 
particularly dislike a mixture of languages. It is uncouth 
or inelegant, and sometimes marks a want of power in the 
writer. In works of any dignity or consequence, it is 
adviseable, if a passage from any ancient author is cited, 
to translate that passage in the text, and put the original 
at the bottom of the page, if necessary. We have in this 
respect the authority and example of Cicero, Bishop Hurd, 
and Sir William Jones. 

In general, I could say all I wished in the text and 
comment. Some subjects are indeed so important, that 
they should be held forth to public light and viewed in 

every 



[ **4 ] 
every point. Satire, in this respect, has peculiar force. 
Vice is not unfrequently repressed, and folly, presump- 
tuous ignorance, and conceit sometimes yield or vanish at 
the first attack, and like the fabled spirits before the spell 
of the enchanter, 

Prima vel voce Canentis 
Cwi«to,CARMEN$U£TIMENT AUI>IRE SECUNDUM. 

(g) 

I again declare to the public, that neither my na??ie, nor 
my situation in life will ever be revealed Conjectures are 
free and open to the world. Every one is at liberty to fancy 
cases, and make whatever comparisons he thinks proper ; 
but suppositions will never amount to facls, nor wild conjec- 
tures have the force of argument. Inquisitive or imperti- 
nent writers will indeed assert their own conjectures of the 
author with stupid and unblushing effrontery. I pretend not 
* k to be the sole depofitory of my own secret ;" but where it 
is confided, there it will be preserved and locked up for ever. 
I have an honourable confidence in the human character, 
when properly educated and rightly instructed. My secret 
will for ever be preferved, / know , under every change of 
fortune or of political tenets, while honour, and virtue, and 
jeligion, and friendly affection, and erudition, and the prin- 
ciples of a gentleman, have binding force and authority 
upon minds so cultivated and so dignified. When they 
fall, I am contented to fall with them. 

My poem, and all and each of the notes to it were written 
without any co-operation whatsoever. I expect the fullest 
assent and credit to this my solemn assertion : and I expect it, 
because I speak the truth. 1 have not been assisted by any 

Doctors 

(^) Lucan, I. 6. v. 27. 






[ 2*5 ] 

Doctors in any* faculty. If indeed I had written to please 
a particular man, a minister, a chief in opposition, a party, 
any set, or any description of men exclusively, literary or 
political, there is not a man of understanding in the 
country who does not perceive that I should, or rather 
that I must, have written in another style, thought, and 
argument. Of such motives indeed I profess myself nor 
fkilled, nor studious. 

My appeal is direct to my Country : I know and feel 
the situation in which at this moment (h) she stands* 
There is now no balance left in Europe : all is preparing 
to sink under One desolating Tyranny. My opi- 
nion however is, that by the mercy of Providence, and by 
the unremitted attention and labours of our constitutional 
Statesmen, and the united efforts of all that are loyal, brave, 
opulent, wife, learned, powerful, or dignified, we may yet 
" be able to stand in this evil day, and having done 
" all to stand." 

Let us stand therefore, as the chosen nation of old, 
the insulated memorial of true Religion, and the ONLY 
Asylum of balanced Liberty. 1 profess myself convinced, 
and therefore have I written. I entered into the sanctuary 
of the Hebrews, and heard the voice of their prophet ; 
*' Credidi, propter quod locutus sum." This was the 
voice which I heard, and it was a voice, as Milton would 
express it, " thundering out of Sion." 

Under this persuasion and conviction, I will say of this 
work, there is in it but one hand, and one intention. It will 

be 
(h) July M797, 



[ 2&6 J 

be idle to conjecture concerning the author, and more thari 
foolish to be very inquisitivei To my adversaries I have 
nothing to- reply: / never wilt reply, I could with the 
most perfect chanty sing a requiem over their deceased 
criticisms, if I were master of, what Statins calls, the 

* l Exequiale sacrum, carmenque mineribus umbris \ 
" Utile." (z) 

Those whom I wished to please, 1 have pleased.- If I have 
diffused any light, it is from a single orb, whether tempe- 
rate in the horizon, or blazing in the meridian. 

Thus much to silly curiosity and frivolous garrulity, 
But to persons of higher minds, and of more exalted and 
more generous principles, who h&ve the spirit to under- 
stand, and the patience to consider, the nature and the 
labour of my work, I would address myself in other lan- 
guage and with other arguments. I would declare t& 
tkem t that when I consider the variety and importance and 
extent of the subjects, 1 might say that it was written, 
*| though lor no other cause, yet for this, that posterity 
•' may know, that we have not loosely, through silence, 
" permitted things to pass away as in a dream." 

I would declare also to them, that I delivered it as A 
Literary manifesto to this kingdom in a season un- 
propitious to learning or topoetry,in a day of darkness and 
of thick gloominess, and in an hour of turbulence, of terror, 
andof uncertainty. Such persons will be satisfied, if the great 
cause of mankind, of regulated society, of religion, of 
government, of science, of true tafte, and of good 
manners, is attempted to be maintained- with strength 

arid 
(/) Stat. Theb. L. 6. v.- J23. 



[ *87 ] 

and with the application of learning. To them it is a 
matter of very little or rather of no moment at all by 
whom it is effected. They have scarce a transitory ques- 
tion to make on the subject* To such understandings I 
willingly submit my composition, and to them I dedi- 
cate the work. 

I shall only add, that if they {hould read all the Parts 
of this Poem on the Pursuits of Literature with candour 
and with attention, whatever the connection between 
them, or whatever the method may he, they will most 
assuredly find " that uniformity of thought and design^ 
" which will always be found in the writings of the same 

" person, WHEN H£ WRITES WITH SIMPLICITY ANJJ 

'* IN EARN EST," 



The End of the Preface to the Fourth Dialogue. 



# 



{ *8 9 ] 

THE 

PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



DIALOGUE THE FOURTH AND LAST.* 






AUTHOR. 

OH, for that sabbath's dawn, ere Britain wept* 

And France before the Cross believ'd and slept! 

(Rest to the state, and slumber to the soul!) 

Ere yet the brooding storm was heard to roll* 

In fancy's ear, o'er many an Alpine rock, j 

Or Europe trembled at the fated shock; 

Ere by his lake Geneva's angel stood, 

And wav'd his scroll prophetic (a) o'er the flood, 

With 

(a) It is remarkable that in Switzerland appeared the three 
persons, whose principles, doctrines, and practice, (as it seems 

T /» 

'* - .1.1 ' - . L l| 1 i . , , ,. .., „ ri . ' im 11, 1 1 j . ur at 

* First printed in July 179;, f Lycophron, Cassand. v. 3 



I 290 J 

With names (as yet unheard) and symbols drear* 
Calvin in front, and Neckar in the rear 5 10 

But 

tome) have primarily and ultimately effected the great change 
and downfall of regal and of alL lawful power in Europe. 
Calvin, in religion ; Rousseau, in politics; and Neckar by his 
administration. Calvin and His disciples were never friends to 
monarchy and episcopacy ; but I shall not here contend politi- 
cally or theologically with Bishop Horsley concerning Calvin. 
A poet's words are better for a poet. I have looked into history; 
and, as I think, have found them true, Dryden speaks of 
Calvin thus, and remarkably enough ; 

The last of all the litter scapM by chance, 
And from Geneva first infested France, (a) 

Rousseau, (I. speak of him here only as a political writer) \$f 
the unjustifiable, arbitrary, and cruel proceedings against him, his 
■writings and his person, in France, (where he was a stranger and 
to whose tribunals he was not amenable) was stimulated to pur- 
sue his researches into the origin and expedience of-' such govern- 
ment, and of such oppression, which, otherwise, he probably never 
would have discussed ; till he reasoned himself into the desperate 
doctrine of political equality, and gave to the world his fatal 
present, " The Social Contract," 

Of this work the French, since the Revolution, have neve? 
once lost sight. With them it is first and last, and midst, and 
Without end, in all their thoughts and public actions. Rousseau 
is, I believe, the only man to whom they have paid an implicit 
and unh<viating reverence ; and, without a figure, have worshipped 
in the Pantheon of their new idolatry, like another Chemos, 
4* the obscene dread of Gallia's sons." 

Differed 
{a) The Hind and Panther, B. 1. v. 17a. 



E 291 ] 

fiut chief Equality's vain priest, Rousseau, 
A sage in sorrow nurs'd, and gaunt with woe, 



By 



Different from these, came Neckar. With intentions, as I 
am still inclined to think, upright, pure and just, but with a 
tnind impotent and unequal to the great work, and with princi- 
ples foreign to the nature of the government he was called to 
regulate, reform, and conduct; a fatal stranger for France. He 
oppressed every subject sacred and civil with too much verbiage* 
He was sanctioned by popular prejudice, and marked by aristo- 
cratical hatred; a sort of " Arpinas Volscorum a monte." He 
came to lay open and disclose (and he did lay them open to the 
very bottom) the mystery and iniquity of French finance and of 
French treasuries. But he brought with him to the concerns of 
a great and tottering empire, (which perhaps might have been 
maintained and consolidated) the little mind of a provincial 
banker, and the vanity inseparable from human nature, when 
elevated beyond hope or expectation. What was the conse* 
guence ? for a while indeed, 

Hie Cimbros et summa perlcula rerum 
Excipit, et solus trepidantem /re^/7 Urbem.* 
But the original leaven in bis political composition was popular ;•• 
and that leavened the whole lump. We know the rest. The 
Emigrants from France have never pardoned this minister ; and 
the Romish Priests, in the spirit of their order, pursue him with 
a hatred and fiery zeal unquenchable and immortal. 

His advice, first in the calling together (at all) of the States 
General, and afterwards in the formation and distribution of 
them, gave the devoted King to the scaffold, and the monarchy 
of France to irreversible dissolution. I speak this independently 
of the grand conspiracy against Christianity, regal power, and 
^>ciaj .order, which has been so awfully and so convincingly 

T 2 disclose^ 

? Juv. Sat. 8. v, 249* 



I 292 1 

By persecution train'd and popish zeal* 

Ripe with his wrongs, to frame the dire (b) appeal, 

What time his work tke Citizen began, 

And gave to France the social savage, Man. 

Was 

disclosed by the eloquent Abbe Barruel*, and Professor Robison ; 
since If.rst wrote the preceding reflections. 

For my own part when I contemplate the convulsions of Eu* 
rope, and the fatal desolation which attends republican prin- 
ciples, wherever they are introduced, I cannot but rest with a 
momentary pleasure on the picture, which Plato, in his imaginary 
republic, (the only one I ever could bear) has drawn of a man 
fatigued with the view of public affairs, and retiring from them 
in the hope of tranquility. The sentiments are such as the 
French formerly would have called, Les Delassemens del'homme 
sensible. The words are these: 

Tavrtx. 7rccvTa. \oyi<T[A(o XocGojv, rxjvy^iccv zyjMV xai roc covt& 

VpOLTTUV, OIQV £V %Sl[J,CdVl XOVlOpTZ KSCl ZjxKflS VTIO 7TVSU[A0CT0S 

(as\hs <xMoy*ia,s y ixyot/noi et tttj ocvtos- x&9a.po? aSixias rs. xols 
wogmv spycov, rov re sv&ccSs Ctov Gmostoii, y.ca rwv ct7iaXka,y%$ 
mvra /xsra x.(z\vi$ e\7t3o; 1\sc<js rs xxi eu[asvy,s cciraXXx^sroa^ 

(b) Le Contrat Social, par J. J. Rousseau, Citoyen de 
Geneve. 



* See Memoires pour servir a PHistoire du Jacobinisme, par 
Mr. L'Abbe Barruel; and " Proofs of a Conspiracy against all 
the Religions and Governments in Europe, in the secret Meet- 
ings of Free Masons, Illuminati, &c, &c. by Professor Robisc,^ 
of Edinburgh. (1797.) 
"** Pla;o de Repub. L» 6. p. 496. Op* vol, 2. Edit, Serraoi* 



[ 2 93 ] 

Was it for this, in Leo's fost'ring reign 
.Learning uprose with tempests in her train \ 
Was every gleam deceitful, every ray 
But idle splendor from the orb of day ? 20 

Say, were the victims mark'd from earliest time, 
The Flamens conscious of a Nation's crime ? 
Why smoak'd the altars with the new perfume, 
If heaven's own fire descends but to consume ? 
Alas, proud Gallia's fabric to the ground 
What arm shall level, or what strength confound ! 

Oh for that hand, which o'er the wails of Troy (c) 

His lightning brandish'd with a furious joy, 

Her 

(0 It certainly would be convenient, (if we can for a moment 
trifle with such a subject as the present French war) to march to 
Paris, " and like another (Bryant), fire another Troy." See 
*' a Dissertation concerning the War of Troy, and the Expedi- 
*' tion of the Grecians, as described by Homer; shewing, that 
•* no such expedition was undertaken, and that no such city of 
41 Phrygia existed." Published in 1796, but there is no date to 
the title page. I find it difficult to give an opinion on this inge- 
nious treatise. 

Whatever comes from the author of " The Analysis of ancient 
" Mythology," should be treated with very great respect. His 
character is fenerable, and his erudition, as I think, without 
an equal. Of all subjects, I should ,have thought this subject 
was one, on which an enquiry might have been instituted with- 

T 3 'out 



[ 2 9 4 ] 
Her state, her arms, her fleets, her very name 
Gave, as in mock'ry, to poetic fame, 30 

And 

out offence ; but this has not been the case. The offence has 
been considered as deep and wide, and the influence of the 
principle, in some respeas, dangerous and alarming. The faith 
of history has been represented a; attacked in its strongest 
fortress, and even the sacred writings, as matter of historical 
faith, implicated in the discussion. Some persons have even 
declared that Mr. Bryant had no right to touch the subject. 
That nothing can be more contrary to reason than to suppose, 
that the existence of a city, and a war, of which we have read 
with delight from our boyish days, should be called in question. 
That their pleasure is snatched from them ; and such a poem, 
without an historical fact for a basis, cannot be interesting. 
They allow the amplification of poetry, and it's embellishments, 
and even the anachronisms of Homer. But Troy did exist, 
and the Grecians did once besiege it, and Hector, Achilles, 
Agamemnon, and Diomede were as real heroes, as the Arch* 
duke Charles, Bonaparte, Lord Cornwallis, or Tippoo Saib in 
modern wars. 

I really should smile at many of these objections, if they 
did not frequently come from persons of consequence and of 
learning. Most certainly however I will quarrel with no man 
*' about Sir Archy's Great Grandmother," They who are 
acquainted with the science and subject of probabilities^ will best 
decide the questions for themselves, and I will not intrude my 
judgment : it is a question of probability, and not of proof, 
Latona and Jupiter may perhaps be said in this contest to. 
regard Mr. Bryant, as they formerly did their own offspring 
Apollo, 

Tm <(ikQi> TIAIZONTA &$? ^ocvaro^n 0£ai<n, (a) 
(a) Horn. Hymn, ad ApoJl. 

Fo* 



[ 2 95 ] 

And with {he fire of Philip's son, unfuri'd 
His classic standard o'er a wond'ring world, 

Till 



For my own part, I am equally pleased with a poem founded on 
the metamorphosis of Apuleius, or on any modern fiction, if all 
the essential and integral parts of a poem are preserved ; if the 
characters, manners, and actions are human, and consistent with 
the supposed situations of the personages. This to me is suf- 
ficient; and perhaps poetry, as such, maybe a gainer by Mr. 
Bryant's interpretation. I rather hail the omen in these times of 
poetical sterility. 

But nothing can be further from the dignity of Mr, Bryant's 
character, than the imputation of having attacked the faith and 
credibility of ancient, or of any, history. It is scarcely entitled 
to notice. What was Troy ? with what part of history is it 
connected ? Is not the Trojan war an insulated solitary fact ? If 
it were done away, is any historical event whatever made to fall 
with it? When it is stated that four hundred and thirty ships (no 
matter of what size) were employed by the Grecians in the 
Trojan war in the twelfth century, and only eighty nine in the 
Peloponnesian war in the fifth century before Christ, is this 
matter of serious history? Is not the whole allowed to pass even, 
the bounds of any probability, but that of a poet ? 

I remember hearing a gentleman state similar questions to 
these with much earnestness and apparent conviction, but without 
warmth. He seemed to understand something of the subject; 
and though I conceived some points were pressed indiscreetly 
and unnecessarily by Mr. Bryant, I replied that I thought 
nearly as he did, and I said with the most good-natured Eno%^ 

T4 ■& 



[ 2 9 6 3 

Till " Homer's sprite did tremble all for grief, 



And 



of the Academics, " Almost thou persuadest me to be a 
*' Bryantian." I think they who are the strongest in opposition 
to Mr. Bryant, if they were even Inquisitors *, and could force 
him to hold a lighted torch in his hand, and make a retractation 
of his errors, and the amende honorable in the Egliss: de Notre 
Dame de Cybele Mere de tons les Dieux Fai'ens, would be con- 
tented with the Catholic form of words : " Questi erano gli 
41 scherzi d'una penna poetica, non gli sentimenti d'un animQ 
*« catoJico!" 

Yet considering all that I have heard, and the quarter from 
which it came, Curius quid sentit, et ambo Scipiadae, and the 
insignificance of the question itself, but as a matter of amuse» 
xnent ; though in common with many others, I should have lost 
much individual gratification and instruction, yet I wish this 
Dissertation on the war of Troy had never been written at alh 

(* 797-) 

I will now add, on a more enlarged view of this pleasing and 
classical controversy, which has been carried on with much ani- 
mation, Mr. Bryant has fought singly, and step by step, with 
the most determined and unshrinking bravery against the united 

attacks 

■ M i l l I — — — «| ■ , i n ■ ■ ' t* 

* I am sure Gilbert Wakefield is even more than an Inquisitor in 
all his principles literary, civil, and religious. See his indecent 
letter to Mr. Bryant on the war of Troy. But above all, see his 
Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. The Secretary to the Duke of Alva 
under Philip II. or the Public Accuser of the Revolutionary 
Tribunal, under Roberspierre, never exhibited such a paper. 
There isno deceit in Gilbert Wakefield : he is, just what he seems. 
Jt is plain to see what he expects, and why he writes*, (i 797.) 



[ *97 ] 

And curs'd th' access of that celestial thief.'^J) 

Oh, for a Bryant's hand ! 

OCTAVIUS, 

attacks of youth and age, of (ravelled Dilettanti, and of closet- 
scholars. 

, 3TPANTH ro%o(popov xai xaprepov Ciov gtixtzv] 

It is beyond the scope of this work for me to trace this fascia 
pating journey, this progress through the delightful land of 
fairy, or to expatiate among the desolations of time, and these 
scenes of ancient fame. But surely that scholar is little to be 
admired or envied, whose enthusiasm does not grow warmer 
amid the ruins of Ilium, or who can hear without emotion the 
imaginary murmurs of Scamander and Simois. 

But as for thee, thou illustrious and venerable man, thou 
Unsullied glory and unshaken support of ancient literature and 
it's hallowed dignity, I must be allowed in this closing address 
to say, that in whatever researches thou ha»t been engaged, in 
thy long and bright career, whether imparting to the world solid 
instruction, deep erudition, ingenious conjecture, or liberal 
amusement, every classical power from above has always 
regarded, and must still regard, thee, thy labours, and thy 
gplendid talents with complacency, with gratitude, and with 
pride, 

KaAa Koci 54/i Gtioots* aiyXn $s re X 1 a,[A<pi<p&siv£& 
ILys" apx £''£//. vaj aw irqcvrcoz suv/xwy sovra ; 
E^Tjxag GavaTOio r ax.Q? t xca yripoco; ukxocp I 
'Haipois' ccvnxp 2sio xou aXhrfi (xvnao{jJ aoioioc.^ 

(Nov. iSpo.) 

(J) Two lines from Sir Walter Raleigh's Sonnet, prefixed to 
Spenser's Fairy Queen. 

f Homer. Hymn, ad Apollinem, 



I 298 ] 



OCTAVIUS. 

Methinks you smile, 
And fain would land me on the wand'ring isle, 
Where the learn'd drain Acrasia's foaming bowl, 
Tillmmd the Sun their heads with Gebelin's (<?} roll; 

Nor 

(<?) Gebelin. — If many persons in the learned world have thought 
Mr, B'-yant unadvised in the discussion of the war of Troy in the 
twelfth century A. C. what must we say to Mr. Court de Gebe- 
lin, who has actually endeavoured to reason us into a beiief, that* 
the Founders of the Roman State,, Romulus, and Remus, were 
only allegorical personages, and were in reality representatives 
of the Sun, and worshipped as such. Mr. Gebelin is a man of the 
most various erudition, and if he were as well known as Mr. 
Bryant, his attempt would have been noticed. But few people 
perhaps have had the curiosity to look into nine volumes in 4to. 
of the " Monde Primitif analyse et compare avec le Monde 
•* Moderne par M. Court de Gebelin." 

It may be entertaining to some persons, if I give a fe<w parti* 
culars of this singular question. The Fourth Volume of Mr, 
Gobelin's work consists of the " Historie Religieux du Calendrier, 
*' ou des Fetes Anciennes." The fifth Chapter of the second Book 
(Vol. 4.) is the " Histoire des Gemeaux Romains, Romulus efc 
" Remus." Mr, G. says, u Les Romains eurent aussileurs Alle- 
ci gorit'S sur le double Soleil successif de l'annee ; ils F appli querent 
" a leur Remus et Romulus* Les ncms sont allegoriques, et tous 
il rejatifs a l'annee." p. 264. Remus, it seems, signified the 

Sump 



[ 299 1 

Nor heed the pause of (/) Douglas, Wakefield's rage, 
Nor Hallam (g) trembling for the sacred page, 40 

Nor 

Sun in the winter, and Romulus in the summer ! By an easy proof, 
he says, " lis en firent la fete des £*mures pour jfomures, &c 
p. 263. In the sixth chapter of the same book, we read : Noes 
avons *vu dans le chapitre precedent, que Romulus etoit 3e so- 
le! 1 j que tout le prowvoit. — And what is the proof? Truly 
this ; " Le nom de sa mere, celui de son pere, son frere : la mort 
u de son frere (Remus), son propre nom," &c.&c. Q^E. D. 

Mr. Gebelin has not yet done, nor is Mr. Gebelin yet satisfied. 
He next converts, by means of his solar microscope, Romulus 
into Hercules ! But hear his words: " Ce qu' exprimoient a 
6< cet egard les Grecs par 1'Apotheose d'Hercu/e, les Remains 
* c l'exprimerent par 1'Apotheose de Romulus." But when he 
$peaks of Quirinus, another name of Romulus, the force of art 
and of proof can go nofurther. Hear him again ; " Quirinus 
*' (nom de Romulus) la traduction literate de Melcartbe, on Mdi-> 
u certe, que portoit Hercule chez les Tyricns. est une autre 
* s ¥REWE,quon regardoit Romulus comtne le Sgleil-" p. 269! 

I cannot help observing that in this same 4th Vol. p. 422. 
Mr. Gebelin informs us that, «' Sur le 18 Feyrier on celebrcit iar 
M Fete de Romulus, and at the same time, (rarher inauspiciously 
" to be sure) on celebroit la Fcte des Foux," I suppose on 
the celebration of la FeTE des Foux, cards of invitation were 
sent round by the PontifexMaximus to the Antiquaries of those 
days, and I really think, if Mr- Gebelin had been produced at 
that time, he would not have been without his card, with a few 
Others, to be distributed among his friends* 

Indeed these deliramenta doctrine? are sometimes amusing, but in 
jfiality they are rather a subject of serious regret fronuheirconse- 

queries 



Nor Gillies (/£) crying, what shall we peruse ? 
What is my work ? mere records of the Muse ; 
And lo ! by Bonaparte's iron pen, (/) 
The tale of Rome may be Troy's tale again. 

AUTHOR, 



quences on the public mind. There is no end to the absurdities 
from this source, when we resolve all ancient persons and 
events into allegories and Egyptian mysteries; till as we have 
just seen, Romulus akd Remus, The founders of the Roman 
Empire, become (according to Monsieur Gebelin's Order of 
Firing, after a grand Escojtetterie*, or volley, of Ser/zents ard 
stars) transformed into Roman Suns; Remus in the Winteiy 
and Romulus in the Summer !-— See ihzjiroofs above, 

(/) The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Douglas, the present Bishop of 
Salisbury, (1797.) Author of the Criterion, and of other 
acute pieces of reasoning, which will be long remembered am| 
admired. 

(g) Dr. Hallam, the present Dean of Bristol. (1797.) 
(&) Author of a History of Greece, 

(*) The tremendous conquests of Bonaparte in Italy and in 
Germany remind us too much of the words of the Roman His- 
torian; t; SiCAPTivosaspiceres, MoIossi,Thessali, Macedones, 
Bruttius, Apulius; si pompas, aurum, purpurae, signa, tabular 
Tarentinjsque deliciae." Flor. Lib, 1. C. 18. (*797» 



I s^ 1 3 

AUTHOR. 

No; other thoughts my lab'ring soul employ. 

That springs anew to long-forgot ten joy; 

I range in Fancy's consecrated round, 

And meet the poet on a poet's ground, 

Nor seek historic truth of time and place, 

But truth of manners, character, and grace, 50 

The Bards who once the wreaths of glory wore, 
Cloath'd in translucent veil their wond'rous lore; 
The tales they sung a willing age believ'd, 
Charm'd into truth, and without guile deceiv'd. 
Where'er they rov'd, young Fancy and the Muse 
Wav'd high their mirror of a thousand hues; 
They gaz'd, and as in varying guise pourtray'd 
Aereal phantoms hov'ring round them play'd, 
Gave to each fleeting form, that shot along, 
Existence everlasting as their song; 60 

And as by nature's strength the tablet grew, 
Rapture the pencil guided as they drew. 

OCTAVIUS. 



[ 302 J 

OCTAVIUS. 

Nay now you soar indeed; another flight, 

And the wing'd courser bears you from my sight % 

You're strangely mov'd. 

AUTHOR, 

The matter is my own 3 
I never shar'd the profits of the gown, 
Nor yet, with Horace and myself at war, 
For rhyme and victuals (b) left the starving Bar. 

I never 

{%) This was lately done by William Boscawen, Esquire, an 
Etonian, first a Barrister at Law, now a Commissioner of the 
Victualling Office, and (by an easy transition) Translator of 
Horace. Negafas arnfex sequi voces. (Fers. Prol.) In this revision: 
of my work, I have no more space to allot to Mr. Boscawen or 
his rhymes. It is the fate of some men to describe the history 
of an art, without making any progress in it themselves; to* 
write verses without inspiration, and satirical poems without 
satire. But what said Boileau ? 

" Attaquer Chajielain? ah ! c'est un si bon homme: 

•' II est vrai, s'ii m'eut cru , qu'il n'eut point fait des ver#* 

" 11 se tue a rimer. Que n'eci it il en prose? 

*' Yoila ce que Ton dit. Et que disje autre f/W .•?*"( 179S) 

Nothing 
f boileau Sat, 9, 



[ 3°3 1 
I never lov'd Dean Dewlap's vacant looks, 
Or purchas'd empty praise^ from empty books; 70 
I leave at sales the undisputed reign 
To milk-white (/) Gosset, and learn'd (k) Spencer's 
train. 
No German nonsense sways my English heart, 
Unus'd at ghosts and rattling bones to start : 

I neve £ 

Nothing indeed is less acceptable than plain truth to irritable 
and implacable rhymers ; bin I must say, that the unresisting 
imbecility of Mr. Boscawen's translation disarms all particular 
criticism. 

Et quidnam egregium prosternere msenia //<zn># 

Structa lyrd f * 

(/) Nota bookseller of reputation in London, Payne, Edwards, 
White, &c. &c. is unacquainted with Dr. Gosset's " milk 
* c white vellum books," when he wishes to make an exchange. 
The Reverend Dr. Gosset is present at all the Booksales in 
the metropolis, and he certainly is a good scholar, as well as 
a good judge of the value of books. Doctor Gosset's priced 
catalogues in his oiun hand are said to be in an uninterrupted series, 
except one. They are also said to be equal in use and value to 
** The curious collection, in regular and undoubted succession of 
'* all the Tickets of the Islington TiiYnpike from its fir it institution to 
*' the 20th of May inclusive," recorded among the presents made 
fo the Antiquarian Society," when Sir Matthew Mite was ad- 
mitted Fellow, and made his speech on that occasion, f 

* Statius L, 10. 
f Foote's Nabob, Act s» 



C 3°4 3 

I never chose, in various nature strong, 
Logic for verse, or history for song; 
But at the magic of Torquato's strain, 
Disarm'd and captive in Armida's chain, 
To Godfrey's pomp Rinaldo still prefer, 
Nor care if ranting Wakefield (kk) thinks I err. 80 

To 



■ No person is m-iv obliged to make an inauguration 
speech, when he is admitted Fellow of the Antiquarian 
Society. The noble President observed in one of his speeches 
that the custom ceased and determined at Sir Matthew Mite's 
election, as appeared by the record^ copied by Mr. Foote 
and inserted in his Nabob. — Ego si risi, lividus et mordax 
ridear? The little Doctor, I think, will be the first to smile 
himself; as he is an ingenious, learned, sensible, and chearful^ 
man. 

{k) The Rt. Hon. Earl Spencer, the munificent, and I may 
add, the learned, sensible, and very intelligent collector of 
every valuable work in literature. I record with pleasure bis' 
" Palatine Apollo," that munus Apollint dignum ! 

(H) Gilbert Wakefield. — We give up (but with gre«e 
reluctance) Virgil, Horace, and Lucretius, but we will not 
give up the Constitution of England sacred or civil, to his tor- 
turing hours. " Criti«cus adsuetus urere,.secare, inclementer 
omnis generis libros tractare, apices, syllabas, voces, dictiones 
confodere, et stylo exigere, non continebit iste ab integro 
(Reipublicje nostra) statu crudeles ungues? &c. &c. Orat^ 
Petri Burmanni Lugd. Bat. 1720.*' \* 



C 305 ] 

To Hurd, not (/) Parr, my Muse submits her lays,' 
Pleas'd with advice, without a lust for praise ; 
"Who marks her errors, him she deems her friend., 
Fond to correct, but never to defend. 
With patriot aim, and no irreverent rage. 
Without one stain of party on the page, 
From Grecian springs her force, her art she draws, 
Firm in her trust, ennobled in her cause; 
Her moral none, the verse some few disdain : 
Yet not a note she sounds shall sound in vain, 90 > 
While Bryant (m) in applause with Baker (n) joins, 
Gifford (0) approves, and Storer (p) loves the lines : 

Though 



(/) See the account of Dr. Parr's style and writings. P. of L. 
Dialogue III. &e. with the notes. When the reader has 
considered the whole, perhaps he may be inclined to say witfe. 
the comic poet of Athens, 

ITriXov to /xsya KOME[OAAKT0OT srstrev ! * 

(m) Jacob Bryant, Esq. Author of the Analysis of Ancient 
Mythology, &c, &c. &c. 

1 («) Sir George Baker, Bart. Physician to the King, a 
Gentleman of deep and extensive classical knowledge. His 

U compositions* 

* Aristoph, Acharn. sub fin. 



t 306 ] 

Though still, a stranger in the sacred clime, 
Some say, I love not poetry, but rhyme. 

Offspring of other times, ye visions old ! 
Legends, no more by gentle hands unroll'd, 
Magnanimous deceits ! where favour'd youth 
Finds short repose from formidable truth ! 
Oh witness if, e'er silent in your praise, 
I've pass'd in vice or sloth inglorious days, 199 

But rais'd for you my firm unalter'd voice, 
Fancy my guide, and solitude my choice. 

Though 

compositions arc written in the purest Latinity, worthy of an 
Etonian. His situation in life sufficiently declares his professional 
talents. (1797.) 

(<?) William Gilford, Esq. Author of the Baviad and the 
Maeviad. 

(p) Anthony Storer, Esq. a Gentleman of fortune and fashion, 
talents and accomplishments. He was educated at Eton and 
Cambridge. His attainments in literature are various and 
considerable ; and few men have a nicer skill in the principles 
of jast and legitimate composition than Mr. Storer. He has read 
Quintiuan 'with ejects (Mr. Storer will understand me per- 
fectly) and he has drawn his knowledge and judgment from the 
tcstvv riters and critics of antiquity and of modern time. (1797.} 



[ 307 1 

Though now (q) no Syren voice be heard, no strain 

Ascend from Pindus, or Arcadia's plain; 

No Graces round th' Olympian throne of Jove 

Bid the nine virgins raise the chant of love. 

The harp of Taliessin lies unstrung, 

Close by the loom, where Death's dread sisters sung; 

Unfelt each charm of Odin's magic tree, 

With many an uncouth Runic (j.) phantasy, no 

The symbol deep, and consecrated rhyme, 

Trac'd with due reverence in the northern clime. 

Though now no tempered lance, no magic brand, 

No Durindana (/) waves o'er fabled land; 

No 

(q) I mean by these and several following lines to observe, 
that the Pagan Fable is now exhausted, and the specious miracles 
of Gothic Romance have never of late years produced a poet. 
Perhaps the latter were more adapted to true poetry than the 
pagan inventions. Witness the sublimer productions of modern 
Italy. 

(s) Mr. Mathias, (the Author of the Essay on the Evidence, 
&c. on the long-disputed subject of the poems ascribed to 
Rowley in the 15th century, and which I mentioned in a note to 
the First Dialogue of the P. of L.) several years ago attempted 
to excite the curiosity of the public to the remains of northern 
antiquity, by a lyrical imitation of some Runic fragments. I 
wish the example had been followed. (1797.) 

(0 The sword of Orlando. 

U z 



[ 3 e8 ] 

No nightly-rounding Ariel floats unseen, 

Or flames amazement o'er the desert greeny 

No wizards hold, some blasted pine beneath, 

Their horrid sabbath on the darkened heath; 

Say, are the days of blest delusion fled? 

Must fiction rear no more her languid head? I2d 

No more the Muse her long-lost transports know, 

IsTor trace the fount whence living waters flow ? 

Awake, ye slumb'ring Rulers of the song ! 

Each in your solemn orders pass along; 

In sacred radiance o'er your mountain old 

Yet once again your dignities unfold , 

And fill the space ; your scepter'd glories claim 

And vindicate the great Pierian name, 

jOCTAVIUS. 

Are these a poet's only themes? I fear, 
No verse like this will find a patient ear* t$Q 

AUTHOR. 



[ 309 ] 

AUTHOR. 

Hear yet awhile, — The dread resistless powV, 
That works deep-felt at inspiration's hour, 
lie claims alone — » 

OCTAVIUS, 
Who claims > 

AUTHOR. 

The favoured Bard, («) 
Who nobly conscious of his just reward, 

With 



(«) I mean here to give a character of the Poet, as such, and 
of the sources whence the art itself is drawn. I would wish to 
express generally, what Proclus (in one of his dissertations on the 
UoXiTELOc of Plato, ed. fol. Basil. 1534. p. 403.) wcnld call with. 
a sublime dignity, the TTao-otv UoiriTDcnc, thv ^lackui/.Tmcrocy, 
when the poet exerts his highest faculties, or, (in the language 
of Proclus in the same place) O-rav evQucriafyv, kou rxis 
Msrau ytoiro^oq wv, xara TKN ITP^THN zvspyzi KAI 

ENOEON 1I0IHTIKHN. 

U 3 A selection 



[ 31° ] 

Wi th loftier soul, and undecaying might, 
Paints what lie feels in characters of light. 



He 



A selection of various chapters from this work of Proclus on 
the UoXiTEia of Plato, which relate to poetry, might be made, 
and published by some ingenious scholar; as they would be 
perfectly new and original to many persons. I know not (better 
Greek scholars than I am may know) whether at present there 
is any edition at all, but that printed at Basil, in Greek, without 
any Latin translation. They exhibit what this philosopher of 
genius (in p. 401, on the Tpeis thai rns IlowTiKys,) terms, the 
Tvjv rcov Yiomruv iaolviccv xiVB/xsvwrs xou xivugoo/, koci 7r\r>px^zwiV 
.xvwScV, xai sis acXXac 'Bux.TtopQ^z.viiGixv rw sxsiQsv sXXocfx-^iv, 

Philosophers like these, Apollo and all his choir were once 
supposed to address in strains, which few scholars will hear 
without delight. They are to be found in the life of Plotinus, 
the Platonic, which was written with some eloquence (at least 
Politian thought so) by his, disciple Porphyrius:* 

KW»£w M«<ras- fyrnw ottoc yyipuaourQau, 

TI<x[/*<pajvois i&yjx.ivi 7rocvtzp[A,oviai<ri r zpuQLiC,^ 

O;ov £7r' Aixxi^ri arwcai yppov £K\7)'i%a,v 

AQoCV&TUV [AOCVICCKTIV, 0(JW)p£ 1011(71 T 0101$ MIS'. 

AXXa 75 Macrawv Upos %opos GC7iUG-<v{A£V 9 
Eif Iv ETMrvEiQ'VTBS aoibrts npixocrac TToc&ris', 
T'/u-A" xa< £V i^EaaaKTiy Kyco <&oi£os QccQw/jxirns. 
I would also present the following passage, from a great Roman 
master, to every rising Youth of genius in this kingdom. If I 
could perceive his countenance brightening as he reads, and the 
powers of his soul kindling into a fancied or anticipated emulation, 

I should 

* Plotini Vita. In limine Oper. Plotini Edit. Ficiai, Basileae 

34PXXC. 



[ 3" } 

He turns: and instantaneous all around 
Cliffs whiten, waters murmur, voices sound ; 

' Portentous 

I should say to him, as Herodotus once said to the Father of 
Thucydides, when he perceived the tear of enthusiasm falling 
from the boy, at his recital of " the Expedition of Xerxes against 
u the general Liberty of Greece. " The sceao was the 
Olympic games, Herodotus before his Country, and Thucydides 
his auditor. Can I rouse the attention yet more ? at such a 
moment he pronounced these words : Opyx % <&uat; ra via ff» 
irpos (AuQriuGCTa..* Let some future Poet, who now perceives 
in himself, what Statius calls the i( cruda exordia magnse In* 
4C - dolis,'* hear and perpend. 

Legere si desideras, 

Vaces oportet, Eutyche, a negotiis, 

JJt liber animus sentiat c vim carminis 

Mutandum tibi propositum est, et yitae genus, 

Intrare si Musarum limen cogitas. 

Ego, (quern Pierio mater enixa est jugo, 

In quo tonanti sancta Mnemosyne Jovi, 

Fcecunda novies, artium peperic chorum;) 

Quamnjis in ipsd pene natus sim schold, 

Curamque babendi penitm corde eraserim, 

Et laude in<vitd in banc njitam incubuerim, 

Fastidiose tamen in coetum recipior. 

Rem me professum dicet aliquis gravem : 

Sed literatse cum sim propior Graecia?, 

Cur somno inerti dtseram Patriae decus ? 
I never read this transcendent strain of genius, without feeling 
-«ven my own mind filled for a space, with all the fulness of the 
Poet; Neque 

* Marcellini Vic. Thucyd. p. 8. Thucyd. edit. Huds. Oxoiv 
U 4 



[ m 1 

Portentous forms ia heav'n's aerial hall 

Appear, as at some great supernal call. 140 

Thence oft in thought his steps ideal (x) haste 
To recks and groves, the wilderness or waste; 

To 

Neque eniai Aonium nemus Advena lustro, 
Nee mea nunc primis albescunt tempora vittis.* 

(x) I speak of the effect of local situation on the mind of the 
poet. But if any man of genius, fancy, and learning, in the 
vigour and noon-day of his life and faculties should, from some 
circumstances for ever to be regretted, be unfortunaiely deprived 
of the power of visiting these great and awful scenes of nature, 
and the monuments of ancient artj an imagination bold and 
fervid may, in some degree, supply that want by recourse to the 
most finished representations of them by sublime painters and 
artists. Stuart, Wood, and Piranesi may raise ideas worthy of 
the Poet, and pour upon his fancy all the ancient dignity of 
Athens, of Palmyra, and of Rome. Alas! these scenes are closed 
for ever. Non Ego sum vates, sed prisci conscius sevi ! 

I cannot but present my reader with the form of an Oath on 
such a subject, from the last classical Poet under the expiring 
monarchy of France, the famous Delisle. I am as ready on this 
Subject, as himself, to swear at the high altar of the Muses ; 

** Helas ! je rfai pint vu ce sejour en ch ante, 

" Ces beaux lieux ou Virgil? a tant de fois chante ; 

(i Mais j'en jure et Virgile, et ses accords sublimes, 

u J'irai; de V Apennin je franchirai les cimes, 

•' J'irai, plein de son nom, plein de ces vers sacres, 

*' Les lire aux memes lieux qui les ont inspires. '* 

Lesjardins, L, {« 
* Stat. Achill, 1. 1. v. iq. 



[ m ] 

To plains, where Tadmor's (jy) regal ruins lie 

In desolation's sullen majesty : 

Or where Carthusian (z) spires the pilgrim draw, 

And bow the soul with unresisted awe ; 

Whence Bruno, from the mountain's pine-clad brow, 

Survey'd the world's inglorious toil below; 

Then, as down ragged cliffs the torrent roar'd, 

Prostrate great Nature's present God ador'd, i$o 

And bade, in solitude's extremest bourn, 

Heligion hallow the severe sojourn. 

To him the Painter gives his pencil's might; 
No gloom too dreadful, and no blaze too bright, 
What time to mortal ken he dares unveil 
The inexpressive form (#) in semblance frail, 

To 

(y) " He built Tadmor in the Wilderness.*' Chron. B. 2. ch. 8. 
v„4. It is remarkable that Mr. Wood observes, that the natives, 
#t this day, call Palmyra by the original appellation of Tadmor, 

(z) The famous monastery, called «« The Grande Chartreuse."* 
The retirement of Saint Bruno. 

{a) The Pictures of the Supreme Being by Raphael and 

pichael Angelo. There is one picture of the Supreme Beino 

I separating 



C 5H 3 

To the strained view presents the yawning tomb, % 
Substantial horrors, and eternal doom. 

To Him the Powers of harmony (b) resort, 
And as the Bard, with high commanding port, 160 
Scans all the ethereal wilderness around, 
Pour on his ear the thrilling stream of sound. 
Strains, from that full-strung-chords at distance swell, 
Notes, breathing soft from music's inmost cell; 
While to their numerous pause, or accent deep, 
liis choral passions dread accordance keep. 

Thence musing, lo he bends his weary eyes 
On life and all it's sad realties ; 
Marks how the prospect darkens in the rear, 1 69 
Shade blends with shade, and fear succeeds to fear, 
Mid forms that rise, and flutter through the gloom, 
'Till Death unbar the cold sepulchral room. 

Such 



separating the light from the darkness, in the Vauit of the 
Capella Sestina in Rome, by Michael Angelo, which, I believe, 
has never been engraved. Mr. Fuse/i, 1 think., said so when 1 
enquired about it. I allude also to the picture of the Lass 
judgment, by the same Master. 

{h) The power of Music on the mind of the Poet. 



t 315 1 

Such is the Poet : such his claim divine ! — - 
Imagination's charter' d libertine, (c) 
He scorns, in apathy, to float or dream 
On listless Satisfaction's torpid stream, 
But dares, alone, in vent'rous bark to ride 
Down turbulent Delight's tempestuous tide. 
With thoughts encount'ring thoughts in conflict strong, 
The deep Pierian thunder of the song 180 

Rolls o'er his raptur'd sense : the realms on high 
For him disclose their varied majesty ; 
He feels the call : then bold, beyond control, 
Stamps on the immortal page the visions of his soul ! 

OCT AVIUS. 

Nay, if you feed on this celestial strain, 
You may with Gods hold converse, not with men. 
Sooner the people's right shall Horsley (d) teach, 
In judgment delicate, with prudence preach, 

And 

(c) " The air, a chartered libertine, is still." 

Sbakspeare. H. V. 

(d) I allude to Bishop Hcrsley's intemperate and unadvised 
speeches in parliament. An injudicious friend is worse than an 

enemy. 



C 316 ] 

And o*er his bosom broad forget to spread 
Bath's dangling pride, and ribband rosy-red $ (e) 
Friend of the Church the fiious Grafton (/) prove ; 
Or Sutton (g) cease to claim the public love, 19$ 
And e'er forego, from dignity of place, 
His polish'd mind and reconciling grace ; 
Or Yorke, {h) regardless of his sacred trust, 
To unobtrusive merit be unjust ; 

Porteous 

enemy ; and I believe Mr. Pitt thinks so. Inconsiderate sentence? 
littered publicly by members of either House are very dan- 
gerous, and do much harm. The dogma js remembered, and 
the comment is forgotten. Bishop Horsley and Mr. Wyndham 
(both men of great natural and acquired ability) should be mors 
attentive in this particular, 

(<?) Bishop Horsley is Dean of the Order of the Bath, and Is 
a bold rival to the late learned knight, Sir William Draper, in 
making " that blushing ribband the perpetual ornament of his 
" person." See Junius, in his Third Letter, and Bishop Horsley 

every where, 

(f) See the Duke's Hints.-* Rather broad. 

(g) The Right Rev. Charles Manners Sutton, Bishop of 
Norwich. A Prelate whose amiable demeanour, useful learning, 
and conciliating habits of life, particularly recommend his 
episcopal character. No man appears to me so peculiarlymarked 
out for the highest djgnityo£ the Church, sede vacante^ a? 
Dr. Sutton. (July 1797.) 



[ 3i7 ] 

Porteous, the royal (/) prelate, firm to truth* 

Forget the primal patron of his youth 9 

Moore to his synod call, of unction full ; 

Or Barrington be meek -, or Watson dull. 

Sooner 

(/>) The Bight Rev. James Yorke, D. D. Bishop of Ely. The 
voluntary, unsolicited offer of the Mastership of Jesus College in 
Cambridge, to the Rev. Dr. Paley, so well known in the literary 
and ecclesiastical world, deserves to be publicly mentioned as 
an instance, almost solitary, of generous, liberal discernment in 
the important collation of academical dignity. The University 
regrets the absence of Dr. Paley, one of the ablest instructors 
she ever could boast; and Bishop Yorke must be recorded 
as one of the friends of learning;. It is no mean honour to 
associate the name of Paley with that of Yorke. et Et mete, si 
•* quid loquaraudiendum, vocisaccedet bona pars.''* (Nov. 1797 .) 

(») The Right Rev. Beilby Porteous, Bishop of London. See 
the Dedication of his Sermons. I think him right in recording 
his elevation as the immediate voluntary gift of royal, and not 
of ministerial, favour. 

Sic gem mas vagina in front e solebat 
Ponere zelotypo Juvenis pr^elatus Hiarbae ! 

The choice was approved unanimously by the country, and 
justified by his own merits and conduct. But I admire still more 
Dr. Porteous's affectionate, grateful, and elegant tribute to the 
memory of his venerable Patron, Archbishop Secker;* g. 
name never to be uttered but with reverence, as the great exem- 
plar of metropolitan strictness, erudition, and dignity. The 
union of such patrons must for ever mark the character of 
Bishop Porteous. (1798.) 

J See his Life, just republished, with a proper attention to the 

time. 



[ w ] 

Sooner Stentorian (k) Davies cease to talk, 
And for his Eton quit his Bond-street walk; 

Sumner 

(k) The Rev. Jonathan Davies, D. D. Provost of Eton 
College; a learned, pleasant, generous, open-hearted, good- 
tempered man, but in conversation rather too much of a Stentor, 
who is declared by Homer to have had a voice equal to fifty 
other men. The Epithets of Horner are all significant, and I 
therefore give the lines. 

Os row a-vh,axGK OSON AAAOI riENTHKONTA, 

"Mr. Provost has an invincible partiality for the charms of 
London, whenever bis duty does not oblige him to be at his 
Lodge. The reason is simple ; the air at Eton now and then 
bites shrewdly, &c« &c. &c* 

Extract from a M, S. found in Long Chamber at Eton; the 
hand writing conjectured to be that of Dr. Heath the Head 
Master, and of one of the Assistants. It was found on one of 
Mrs. PIeath's Ball Nights during Lent, given to the Lautorum 
Tueri for thje advantage and credit of the School. (Nov. 1797.) 

Vicinas alii Veneres, Charitumque choreas 
Carmine concelebrent; nos Fen dogma severum, 
Triite sonant pulsus nostra teiudine chordae ! 

Eton School, like many other great and useful public 
Schools, stands in need of many new and strong regulations, 
which the interests of this kingdom, in common with the de- 
mands of the time, call for with a voice not to be disregarded by 
the masters and governors. 

Perhaps the very existence of the kingdom, in it's present 
constitution, depends upon the undeviating compliance with the 

piesent 



C 319 3 

Sumner (/) drink deep of the Castalian spring } 



Or 



present form and mode of classical (and I hope of religious) 
instruction, so long and so wisely established in our public 
schools. If we desert and abandon it, the principles and strength 
of the English character for sense, discretion, solid learn- 
ing, and sound understanding will fall, to rise no more. We 
shall be destroyed, over-run, or disgraced with National Insti- 
tutes, French morality, French learning, and French jargon, 
political and metaphysical. No lustration can purify us any more, 

'Oiov rco VoXXwvof eaEicra.ro A«(pvi^og opwrt^l 

•OI AA"OAON TO MEAA0PON ! ixar, has 'ocris aXirpos. 

K«t &fl TT8 T0& QvpsrpOO KOiXcO TTOOt ^OIBOS OCpaCTGSl,* 

This is a subject which should be considered by every Father 
of a family, and by every Guardian of young Persons in this 
country, with the most impressive seriousness. Undoubtedly the 
cxpence attending an education at any great public school, (t 
speak not only of Eton) is now felt in such a manner, as I fear 
it will be difficult forParents long to supply, or to continue. 
Whence does it arise? Is there a remedy, in part? I think 
there is. 

To my certain knowledge, the expences of any public school, 
as such, are increased but in a small, and in- a very reasonable 
proportion to the exigencies of the times. Mode, fashion, cus- 
tom, vanity, and inconsiderateness occasion the chief causes 
of complaint. Fashionable private tuition is indeed now as 
expensive, or rather more so in some cases. 

I would first propose, that no Master or Instructor in avy of 
our public schools, should be suffered to keep a Boarding House, 
or have boys to board with him. The character of the V De 
f* Iodise parandd attonitus Doctor," should be done away, 

and 
* Callin, Hymn, ad Apoll, 



1 



[ 3^0 ] 
Or Langford leave off preaching to the King; (m) 

Or 

and the custom wholly abolished. This might easily be effected, 
by a general determination of the Nobility and Gentlemen of this 
kingdom. Surely all Boys, of every description and rank, might 
now board at the general and established Boarding houses, the 
expences of which are libera!, unvarying, and regulated. From 
such an equality of education nothing is to be apprehended. 

The next question may be this ; Is there a necessity for a Boy 
to have a Tutor in any public school ? Why must he have one? 
It is perhaps a source of unnecessary expence (and sometimes of 
no very commendable traffic); and which is still worse, it promotes 
negligence and idleness in boys, and prevents their reliance on their 
own faculties and indispensable application. Thirdly, I am 
confident that by the attention and superintendance on the part of 
the parents or guardians, the expence of bills might be consider- 
ably lessened ; and in regard to books in particular. For want of 
precaution, there is no limit to the elegance of the editions, or of 
the binding. School-books are never costly. This is a single 
instance; but on such and similar instances I cannot condescend 
to expatiate : I would be useful, and therefore not tedious. 

The greatest, most serious, and most alarming cause is be- 
hind, over which the masters can have no control. It is this : 
Private or pocket money given with a heedless, wanton, and 
inconsiderate profusion unknown in former times. 

We are told in the liberal spirit of the day, that all boys must be 
gentlemen, that they must act as other boys, and have no temptation 
to be mean. Suppose this granted. How is this enormous expence 
to be supplied ? By the argument, it is no part of the unavoid- 
able expence of education. But a boy's purse, it seems, should be 
always full; that — That what? that he may be under no tempta- 
tion to be mean. Can we be now ignorant what is the sense 

affixed 



[ 32i ] 
Or good Paltemon, (mm) worn with classic toil, 

Complain 

affixed to meanness by a modern pampered boy ? Well then : 
he has no temptation to be mean. But, from a full purse, has 
he no temptation to be wicked ? no temptation to be idle 
and negligent ? A hor^e, perhaps I may be told, is sometimes 
allowable. Why ? that he may attend races, I suppose, or be 
in town, now and then, perhaps for a whole night. His purse 
must be full. Why ? that he may go to the tavern, drink his 
bottle like a gentleman, and now and then slink to the gaming 
table, and become a man of honour in good time. Liquors are 
rebellious in the blood, and then, as the purse is full, the fore- 
head will not long be bashful. The means of weakness and de- 
bility need not be <wooed\ they are every where obvious and 
obtrusive. 

Such is the education of boys with a full purse. 

A poet once spoke of moderation, and government in expence^ 
in other terms : 

O nondum cognita Divurn 
Munera! virtutis custos et arnica pudori, 
Lnxur/r? frcenum, vitae tutela ! 
But such expences, it may be said, are for patrician boys. Are 
they then separated from the rest ? Is there no contagion of 
example? What are our public streets by day, or our theatres 
by night? The eye may see, but the ear might distrust the 
report. But a full purse, it seems, is very necelTary for a 
boy, that be may not be mean. Surely this is most ruinous 
and contemptible sophistry. 

la education, and in the government of a state, every 
obstacle should be opposed to wickedness, and to the means of 
wickedness. There should be a double restraint. All passions 
submit ultimately (with the great majority of mankind) to the 

X inability 



t 3" ] 

Complain of plants ungrateful to the soil; 



Of 



inability of gratifying them, and the disposition is best prepared 
by the discipline of necessity. 

v In boys and youths of ingenuous tempers, sometimes fifia! 
piety, a regard for their nearest relatives, the advantage of a 
good character, and the pleasure of a good conscience, operate 
with the better and more honourable part. But human 
infirmity is not to be trusted: it never yet was trusted 
with security. Laws, regulations, and strong institutions 
have the greatest power to enforce good manners, when the 
Parents, Guardians, Instructors, and Masters co-operate fully 
in their several functions. It must be remembered, I am 
speaking of the education of boy*, and not of confirmed habits of 
expence, of wickedness, or of depravity in men. The wisdom 
and experience of those to whom I am addressing myself, in 
public schools, will easily supply what I have Omitted ; for I' 
have omitted much. Every gentleman in the country may co- 
operate in this important and patriotic attention, at such a 
period as the present. 

It is also not to be dissembled, (it is my office to speak openly 
and boldly) that Bays now actually divide themselves into 
political parties. There is indeed a general licentiousness of 
spirit among modern boys, which the public good requires to 
be effectually, powerfully, and tnstantly repressed. It is not by 
false and specious liberality that this evil is to be subdued. If 
masters and governors are firm and inflexible in their regula- 
tions, what can the children do ? I laugh at the idle apprehension 
of rebellion in a School. 

If I were the Head Master of Eton, I would begin by thb 
abolition of the mont em immediately. It is very improper, 

and! 



t 5*3 1 

Or Warren (a) in his well-curv'd palm confound 



An 



and very foolish. There is a meanness, and sometimes an ' 
audacity, in this authorized mode of collecting money on the highway, 
which I wonder young Gentlemen of birth and family are not 
ashamed of and can even wish to continue. It is something 
between alms and plunder. Harrow school has no longer 
its ancient and dangerous custom of." shooting for the silver 
"arrow." I mention the abolition of the montem (though it 
now occurs but once in three years,) only as an introduction to 
many other salutary and necessary restrictions in all public 
schools. I have seen the nature of a rebellion (as it is called) 
in a college and a school, and nothing can be more foolish and 
impotent. 

If the Parents, Friends, and Guardians co-operate with Mas- 
ters of Schools and Colleges, what can children and young men. 
ultimately effect, when it is considered, by what laws and hopes 
their future interest, and advancement in life are bound-in, 
cabined, and confined ? The majority of such petty Revolu- 
tionists and embryo Democrats are always restrained in a short 
time, and their successors never feel the absence of what they 
never expected. 

Let every master of a College, and of a public School 
boldly, and vigorously, and instantly adopt the words and 
spirit of Cicero to his friend Atticus. " In qua Ego nactus, ut 
" mihi videbar, locum resecandjE libidinis et coer» 
" cendje juventutis, vehemens fui, et omnes profudi 
w vires animi atque ingenii mei, non odio adductus alicujus, 
" sed spe reipublicce corrigenda et sanandte civitatis. Afflicta 
" est Respublica !"* I hope this note will be regarded 
with the attention it calls for from the public— At all events, 

X 2 now 

* Cic. Ep« ad Attic* k, i. E, i% 



r 3H i 

An ancient guinea with a modem {p) pound 5 

Sooner 



fiow and ever; " Salve, magna Parens doctrinae, EtoniA 
$i tellus Magna Virum !" (Nov. 1797.) 

The daily and hourly experience of all which is passing in 
public schools, and in none more than at Eton, calls with an 
increasing Impatience and in a deeper tone for the strongest 
and most instant regulation. I maintain that nothing is neces- 
sary to produce the great national effect which is now required, 
or rather demanded imperiously, but a solemnj conscientious, 
unshrinking exertion of the legitimate power and authority 
•which are now vested in the Masters of public schools. But a 
timid complaisance to boys, (which they always despise), an 
unwarrantable connivance at their irregularities, and, conse- 
quently, at their notorious vices, and a contemptible recourse 
to half-measures in urgent and perilous cases, which call for 
decisive, exemplary, and final coercion, will utterly annihilate 
the sense of duty and obedience, and with them, of all virtue. 
Sound discipline and sound instruction must move together 
undivided and inseparable; the heart and the head must be 
', equally regarded, whence are the issues of the future life, 
.salvation, and glory of this kingdom. Petty accomplishments, 
a paltry liberality, and shameful cowardice in the Masters of 
the schools, will bring on the Shipwreck of all public, scholastic, 
and academical institutions, and then, in the words of Junius, 
<c Trifles alone will be preserved, while every thing which is 
" solid and valuable will sink to the bottom, and be lost fof" 
* c&rf" (Added Nov. 1800.) 

(/) The Rev. Humphry Sumner, D. D. lately elected (Nov; 
1797) Provost of King's College in the University of Cambridge. 
So it is: Mussat tacito Doctrina titnore. I can have no per- 
gonal objection to a very worthy and 3 very good natured man, 
X. bus 



t 325 3 

Sooner one Prelate hate th* unequal glass, 



And 



tut public considerations make me reflect deeply on such a 
subject. 

We lament the loss of a Provost venerable in advanced age, 
dignified in his deportment, and of classical erudition deep, 
Useful, and extensive. In the extremest boundary of human 
life without the throbs of agony, or the cold gradations of dis- 
solution and decay, supported and sustained by female filial 
piety, (that blessed bounden duty!) he came as a shock of corn to 
the ground in his season. Such was William Cooke, D. D. 
Provost of King's College. 1 

J3ut when I think on all the eligible doctors and learned men, 
worthy of succeeding to the oi£ce, who belong to our paramount 
and royal College, I must own the choice surprises me at such & 
time as this. I comfort myself that I have no vote. At the 
very moment when defence is more than ever called for, it 
seems as we had recourse to the system of inefficiency for public 
support. 

I know not into what form our University may at last be 
changed. It may be turned, for ought I can tell, into an 
Academia degli Arcadi e degli Buffi caricati. It may be sup- 
ported by the violation of every principle of Academic dignity, 
and by an unworthy familiarity of learned gowns-men with. 
mechanics and shop-folks. It may become an appendage to the 
Corporation of the Town of Cambridge. A re *"# not elbowed 
on the floor of our own Senate House by an impudent, unqua- 
lified intrusion of Borough-mongering Mercers, and rustling 
Men-milliners? Oxford might teach us better lessons: she 
knows her dignity, and preserves it, I have nothing left but 

£ 3 to. 



C 3*6 ] 

And round (q) his table let the claret pass^ 



O'er 



to deplore the change among ourselves j would to heaven, I 
could avert it. 

Uni quippe vacat, studiisque odiisque carenti, 
Newtoni lugere genua !" 

Let the University of Cambridge however be converted into 
any thing, but a seminary for French principles and tutorial 
democracy. Let us consider a little to whom we give our con- 
fidence. Should the revenues of any College be entrusted to the 
administration of the partisans of democracy ? Should the 
insigne of a Chancellor's authority be borne by a satellite of a 
French Directory? T think not. The robe of Caesar was folded 
gracefully, when he fell in the Senate, Let us at least remember 
that. 

I confess it boldly, my principles are strong unto salvations 
and if I had authority, 1 would thoroughly purge the floor. It 
may be done now; but how long the power may be continued 
to us, I fear to conjecture. The Monasteries were dissolved, 
when they became useless. His Grace of Grafton, our Chan-? 
cellor, has indeed given Hints, but they are for Dissenters and 
Socinians; the orthodoxy of the High Steward, Mr. Pitt, might 
yet support the establishment. Some Colleges have watched 
over the principles of the men proposed for the tutors ; but all 
have not so watcrted. Must I say, as the Poet did of Achilles I 

Stupet Aere primo: 
Quae loca ? qui fluctus ? ubi Pelion ? omnia versa, 
Autignota videi ; dubitatque agnoscere matrem !• 

I would not suffer the Muse of Satire to descend among 
Schools and Colleges, but upon the most mature and the most 

weighty 

t Stat. Achill. Lib. u, 



£ 327 1 

O'er his true church the subtle St. Pol (r) sleep; 



Or 



weighty deliberation. Perhaps this is the last public remon- 
strance which will ever be made. I would not scatter my words 
lightly in every ear, but I would graft them where they might 
grow and bear. At this hour the State is shaking through all 
her departments : and nothing is now indifferent, which can 
supply aliment for health, or remedies for a mortal disternpera* 
ture. 

The grand and chief supporters of our Country in the Par- 
liament, the Law, and the Church, tnust /iroceed from the Uni- 
versities. Upon them, primarily and ultimately, as to our 
governors and legislators, Domus inclinata recumbit. Nothing 
should be suffered to diminish, or to sully the character of our 
Athens, and pollute the fountains of Uyssus. In these retire- 
ments, every science, and every art, and every accomplishment 
which are good and essential to man in civilized society, may 
be pursued with effect; and a solemn account rendered to the 
kingdom. In them the Youth of this Kingdom may best learn 
the foundation of all knowledge; the principles of evidence in 
sacred and human affairs ; the nature of legitimate argument; 
the eternal power of truth opposed to the subtleties of sophistry ; 
the proofs of revelation, and the best introduction to it, the 
higher philosophy of Greece and Rome ; the sources of his- 
tory ; the finished models of classical literature, and those 
alone; the principles and laws of ancient composition; the 
abhorrence of conceit and forced thought ; and the life-springs 
of taste and of good conduct. Whatever can bring forth, 
strengthen, amplify, cultivate, enlighten, purify, and direct 
the powers of the human mind, within those limits which are 
prescribed by it's great Creator, and not beyond them ; all 
these, and if there be any other praise, or any other 
which preserves and continues to man the blessings of lawful 

X 4 government 



C 3^8 ] 

Or bounds with Heretics John Miiner (s) keep ; 



Or 



government, and of subjection to God, the Author of all 
Order, it should be there prosecuted, recommended, taught, 
and enforced. 

I call upon the ministers of the Crown, upon the solemn 

Council of the Nation, upon every one who bears legal rule 

and legislative authority in the kingdom, to hear me, and to 
answer me. 

Has the State nothing to do with the Governors and Tutors 
of such hallowed and important retreats of arts, and elo- 
quence, and wisdom, and religion? By their very nature; 
they are consecrated to a high and holy ministry, to a strict 
fealty, and bounden service to their country. Their dig* 
mty and necessity can be laid prostrate by themselves alone. If they 
are true to their own cause, if they will rouse themselves into 
a vindication of the great, original, master principles on which 
they were founded, they may continue to be the lights of the 
kingdom. They will again be what they always should be, a 
Tsvor sxXsktov, a Aaas" sis TnpiiroirxriVy a Buai'ksioy lspa.rsvij,sc t 
the best and the strongest literary bulwark and fortress against 
deception, error, sophistry, anarchy, and the wiidness of poli- 
tical and religious confusion. 

I am net speaking out of season, or without necessity ; I am 
speaking in soberness and in truth. While the words are passing 
from me, Jam thub^ juxta, et tenebrosa vorago,* 

I will extend an observation or two on the method of Academi- 
cal study. I own I never had a very great fear or apprehension, 
that the severe and most indispensable studies of Mathematics, 
and Natural Philosophy should be generally carried too far. 
Into the inmost recesses of any study few are permitted to. 

enter 

* Stat. Theb, U 6. 



[ 3 2 9 1 
Or Wilberforce range (rr) lawless through the town; 

Or 

enter. In Academical education, the great aim and end should 
be, to recommend the study of original works principally, I 
think almost exclusively. If these are not attended to at the 
University, they are seldom, if ever read, (f am sure with little 
effect) at any other period of life. I am rigid in this opinion ; for 
I have seen it's good effects in men of eminence who adhered 
to it. " Say, wouldst thou hear it from our mouths, or from 
" our Masters ?" were the words of the weird Sisters; " Call 
** them, let me see them;" was the reply of Macbeth. In this 
spirit would I consider the books proposed for the subjects 
of public lectures. By way of instance, Locke, Grotius, 
PufFendorff, Cumberland, and Woollaston, should be preferred 
to the writers who have arisen since their day. I would 
object to Dr. Paley's moral and political Philosophy, as a Lecture 
book, solely upon this principle ; for it is a book of great 
merit and of general utility. New morality, new metaphysics, 
and new politics, are introduced unawares, from the contagion 
?f the time, 

I would call the rising Youth of this Country, to the intense, 
and fervent, and unremitting study of the ancient classical 
writers, (whom I need not name) as their primary choice. I 
call upon them to have the courage to be ignorant of manv 
subjects, and of many authors, at their inestimable age. I 
exhort them affectionately, as a matter of the most serious 
importance, never to pretend to study, in their first academical 
years, what they design as the ultimate end of their labours, 
J mean their profession. Their whole business is to lay 
the foundation of knowledge original, sound, and strong.. 

In particular, the study of the Law, as such, should never be 
entered upon, even in limine, before the first degree in arts 

is 



[ 330 ] 
Or Mingay be the glory of his gown; 



Or 



|s obtained. The first volume indeed of Elackstone's Com- 
mentaries may be read, in the same manner as Robertson's 
Introduction to his History of Charles the Fifth. They are 
both chef-d'ceuvres in their kind, and form a part of general 
knowledge. The specific study of the Law in the University, 
at that early age, confines and cripples *he faculties. Such a 
Student may arrive at mere knowledge, as a special pleader j 
but he will never be illustrious, nor ornamental to his profession. 
I wish to observe with the most particular emphasis, that, when a< 
young man has once entered upon any profession whatsoever, his 
education has in fact ceased. They who, by a patient continu- 
ance and undiverted attention to academical studies alone, have 
sought for the original materials of science and of solid fame a 
have seldom failed in their great pursuit, 

lam zealous for the honour and the utility of both our IInt-* 
versities: I am earnestin my words and thoughts. I see and hear 
them too frequently, and most unworthily, traduced in writing, 
and in conversation. I see the institution ridiculed and sneerect 
at by the thoughtless, by the ignorant, and by the designing. 
But it is a common cause. They should always be termed, in, 
literary dignity and with a prophetic spirit, the " JEneadas, 
" magnos et nobile Pallanteum!" I am for no balance of merit 
between them ; I wish to see no sparkles from their collision s 
but I would have them grow brighter and more illustrious from 
mutual reflection. 

But if they are doomed to fall, and the mortal hour of 
democracy, confufion, and tyranny is approaching, this book, 
till it is prohibited by a Directory, will shew that they had 
a friend, bold enough to contend to the last for their original and 
inherent dignity.- A friend who believed, or rather who knew 8 

them 



t 33* ] 

Or Erskine cease from impotent grimace, 



And 



them to be capable, in their high functions, to maintain and 
adorn the principles of happiness, and safety, and learning, and 
comfort, and hope, and good conscience; against foppery, and 
false science, and the degradation of the intellect, and frippery, 
and pompous nonsense, and the insolence of sciolists, and the 
neglect of good writing and of good manners. A friend who, 
with no false enthusiasm, would secure the permanency of 
these illustrious institutions, with every monument of 
ancient arts, and eloquence, and science, consecrated by the 
ministry of religion to the stability of the state. (Nov. 1797.) 

{m) The Rev. W. Langford, D. T)^ Canon of Windsor, and 
Lower Master of Eton School. An instructor of much industry 
and ability, and not without liveliness* It is particular, that 
his Majesty never leaves Windsor for Cheltenham, Weymouth, 
or any. other place, but all the public papers instantly inform 
us of Dr. LangfordY loyal attention. ^ The King arrived at 
*' Weymouth on such or such a day; the next week Dr» 
M Langford set off from Jiton^ and preached before his Majesty 
* c the following Sunday." It is hardly fair to his reverend 
rural Brethren. His Majesty should not be accustomed only. 
tto one kind of excellence. 

The Doctor, on these occasions, suddenly disappears, and 
like the River Alpheus, having glided softly under the Sicanian 
waves, (uncontaminated by thesaltnessof the ocean) rises agaia 
sound andfreJi in the pulpit at Weymouth. This is very kind. 
The Doctor seems unwilling to trust the royal theology to the 
country curates even for a few weeks, during his Majesty's 
absence from the heavenly consistory at Windsor, now his only 
Chaplains^ who a it is hoped, attend deeply to their theological 

Studies, 



[ 31$ J 

And his appeals to (/) God, his prime disgrace; 

Or 



studies. This is very considerate in Dr. Langford, and a high 
mark of his loyal attachment. 

** Mon cher De!/zim\ sure you will agree, 
"That for (a Bisho/i) non so fit as He, 
*' Who gives the King such very good avis." 
See the Probationary Odes, by Friar Lawrence and fuf 
(ci-devant) conventual brethren. (Nov. 17974 

(mm) I allude to a learned, modest, ingenious, and laborious 
gentleman, who has educated many of the first sons of the first 
nobility and gentry of this country between twenty and thirty 
years, with unremitting personal diligence and ability. He is 
but just promoted,* to the satisfaction of all who know hir% 
and to the shame of those who have so long neglected him. 

Quis gremio Enceladi doctiqne Pai^emonis affert, 
Quantum grammaticus meruit labor? 

As my notes have attracted the attention of men of high ran& 
snd consequence, (and perhaps have readied the ear of kings), I 
cannot help suggesting the impropriety and injustice of delaying 
the reward of those, who deserve so highly of their country, as, 
the Masters of our great public schools, and of some private 
Instructors. There are many ecclesiastical preferments peiv 
fectly compatible with their important off*ce s and which should 
be conferred, " before the spirit of distributing prebends and 
" bishoprics shall have departed from the Ministers" (of any 
time,) to use the phrase of Junius. 

As I would console some of my learned friends whose prefer* 
ment, though it tarry, will not be (as I hope) long in abeyance, 
I wish they would, in the mean time, contemplate the energy 

of 

* Feb. 1798. Need X namg The R.ev. Dr. Goodenough \ 






[ 333 1 

f 

Or Grafton's virtues, to their latest day, 

Expire 

«f the following classical sentence, preferable even to the 
Latinity of Tully himself. " Status dicitur a stando, quia 
quando quis habet imam bonam Piaebendam turn dicimus, 
Is bene stat." Epist. Obscurorum virorum. Enquire at 
Westminster, Durham, Winchester, Worcester and Windsor, 
March 1798. 

{0) Richard Warren, M. D. a learned and able Physician 
of the time. " The well curved palm" is the attitude of a 
modern physician, when he is about to leave his patient, and 
which he naturally closes upon his fee. As I have a high 
respect for the Medical art, I will gratify Dr. Warren, and 
many other ingenious gentlemen of the profession, with 
an extract from one of the Elogia written by Sammarthanus ; 
it relates to a physician, whom he names Marescottus. 
*' Recorderis Marescotmm nostrum trjd se sacrse arti 
** nostras (Medicag scilicet) debre professum quibis caruisset, si 
*' Jiropositum a fiarentihus sctcerdotium suscepisset; scilicet sani* 
" tatem athleticam aetatis anno 82mo, centum anreorum millia y 
** atque intimam innumerorum illustrium amicitiarn." Sam- 
marth. Elog. p. 83 and 84. N. B. Though the Doctor rejected 
the " propositum sacerdotium," for himself, yet his Brother^ 
my Lord of Bangor, was made into a Bishop by fraternal skill ia 
the reign of Lord North. 

Since this note was first printed, (July 1797,) the public 
have lamented the loss of this acute and very learned physician, 
Qum loquimur, &c. &C. 

(fi) This allusion was evidently made since the 26th of Feb. 

1797, soon after which the Bank iflued the One Pound notes, to 

the great disquiet of the faculty, 

r$ " Sicca* 



t 334 3 
Expire in Junius, and revive in Gray; (tt) 

Or, 

(q) u Sicrat imequahs calices Conviva Sacerdos.'* It is well 
known by the Clergy of a powerful northern diocese, that on 
public days, when the Claret or Burgundy arrives at a certain 
distance from the top of the table, where my Lord is seated, 
the attracting power suddenly draws the bottles acrofs the? 
table. Ipse capillato diffusum consule potat. This is not 
an anecdote of other times) it is true at this hour. (July, 
1797.} When avarice, pride, and meanness act upon the 
mind at once, I leave it to the metaphysicians to determine the 
curve in which it moves.— I say no more. 

(r) The Eishop of St. Pol de Leon, to whom the chief care of 
the public largess of this kingdom to the French Emigrants, 
sacred and profane, is committed. I refer the reader to all my 
notes on the Roman Catholic cause, in the Third Dialogue of 
the P. of L. 

It is indeed true that the Popedom is now fallen 5 
but the spirit of it, I still maintain, is neither extinct nor 
asleep. By way of Contrast, I cannot refrain from present- 
ing to the reader the picture of Pope Paul the Fourth, 
as drawn by the master hand of Paolo Sarpi. I will not injure 
the sublimity and force cf the language by a translation. He 
well knew the court and the policy of Papal Rome, and they 
knew him. '« E f ben co?a certa, que Paolo, come quello che 
era d* animo grande, e de' vasti pensieri, teneva per sicur© di 
poter remediare a tutti i disordini jier la sola sua autorita fton* 
tificale ; ne riputava di aver bisogna in cio di Princifie alcuno% 
solito di non parlar mai con gli Ambasciadori, se non intonan- 
dogli nelle orecchle che eg Li era sopra tutti gli Principi! 
die non voleva che alcuno d'esst domesticasse seco, che poteva 

mutar 



[ 335 1 

Or, by the wayward justice of the land, 



Greafc 



mutar regni, che era Successor di Chi ha deposto Re et 
Imperadori,"* 

This picture of a Pope, in the plenitude of pontific power* 
should be presented to all Christian Countries, " in fierjietua'm 
u rei memoriam" that they may contemplate what this spiritual 
tyranny and usurpation once were, and what the principles of 
the Romish Church sacred and political (which never change 
in essence, substance, or spirit under any calamity) will at all 
times naturally introduce, whenever they obtain their full 
operation. ** Ubi, Papa iU BomaJ" in sascula sseculorum! 
Let England look to this. ( 1797.) 

(>, To the revival of the Roman Catholic Cause in 
Great Britain, *' Pestis ero vivens." I have given indeed more 
time and study to this Roman Catholic subject than any man 
perhaps, at this time, will think it deserves. I have perused 
inany a dull and uninteresting tract, even of their own 
squabbles among one another, much to the loss of my own 
quiet. In general I pass them over, and confign them to 
their own dullness. But there is one pamphlet, not for any, 
even the least, excellence of the compofition, but for the viru- 
lence of it's spirit, which I call into public notice, if the public 
will, or can feel upon the subject. It is intitled '* A Replv 
*' to the Report published by the Cisalpine Club on the authen-- 
€t ticity of the Protestation at the British Museum, &c. &c. by 
«« the Rev. John Milner," Printed for Coghlan, Duke Street, 
Grosvenor Square, 1795. ^ ' s written, as the title pa?e 
informs me, by one John Milner, a Provincial Priest resi- 
dent (as I am told) at Winchester, not an emigrant, nor in the 

King's 
* Istor. del ConciL Trident. Lib, 5. 



C ^ 3 

Great Mansfield fall by an Attorney s hand; (z) 220 

Or 

King's House (while the Priests lived there en masse,) but the 
priesc of a private chapel in that city. 

He seems by his writings, (I know no mere of him) to be 
of the most intolerant principles, and deliberate in the applica- 
tion of them. He exhibits at once the extremes of fierceness 
and of impotence. But he represents the opinions of a very large 
portion of their body, by whom he is accredited. He is very 
cautions in his pamphlet, as he thinks, but his caution speaks 
plainer language than the frankness of the most open declara- 
tion. " It is apprehended (he says) that the publication of the 
" facts in question might /trove detrimental to the Catholic Interest 
66 (observe the words) onany future a/ifilication to theLegtslature" 
p. 36. We see this *wary priest has not thought pron^ to 
conceal that they have further intentions. He tries the ground 
before him, but his steps are uneasy. The indulgence, it 
seems, is not to rest here ; for the lenity of our government na- 
turally leads to other demands. With this clue in my hand, I 
have little difficulty to pass through the intricacy of this Romish 
labyrinth. 

In another part of Mr. Milner's " Reply, " his indignation 
rises against some expressions in the declaration of the Catho- 
lics. We see the embers under which the fire is not yet 
extinguished. He is afraid, that i»e Protestants should think 
that the spirit of his church has suffered an abatement. 
,l Thus to my judgment (he cries out) am J and the whole 
<c Catholic body, without consenting to it, pledged in the face of 
c « the Legislature, to condemn the wars of Charlemagne, and 
*' the Crusade against the infamous Aleigenses." p. 28. 
I hope we are all children of mercy, trained and educated in 
the benevolence and charity which Christ has taught and en- 

forced^ 






f 337 I 

Or one mean cause the virtuous (a) Scott maintain, 

Turn 

forced, and if we have read the history of that infernal and 
murderous persecution of the devoted Albigenses, (whose chief 
crime was their determined opposition and resistance to the 
papal tyranny*) what opinion, or what comment shall we form, 
on this merciless priest, who after the lapse of centuries, feels 
the same passions and the same thirst of blood against these inno- 
cent victims of popish and arbitrary violence, Crimine ab uno 
Disce omnes! f 

In 

* The Albigenses were a sect of the Waldenses, who had their 
rise in the twelfth century. I know what the malice of their 
enemies has suggested against them. This is not a place to 
discuss history, but I refer the statesman to Thuar.us, L,i. S.16- 
yol. i. p, 221. ed. Buckley; For their confession of faith, 
which was presented to King Francis the First, by the wretched 
remnant of these Albigenses, I refer the theological and politi- 
cal reader to Sandius's Hist. Eccles. It is an honour to their 
religion. Sandius's words begin : " A. 1544, Merindoliani et 
11 Caprarienses, existentesque Reliquiae Albigensium sequentem. 
M fidei suae confessionem obtulerunt Francisco I. Regi Gallic, 
* ; quam a majoribus quasi per manus acceperant, abhinc anno 
" postChristi Jncarn; 1200," &c. Sand Hist. E. p. 42$'. 

f The unwarrantable violence of this Romish Priest, John 
MiJ.ner, in his ponderous History of Winchester, (to some tenets 
-in which, though mitred Rochester has nodded on them unperceived, 
the criticism of the Attorney-General might certainly be applied 
with effect,) has called forth from the pen of Dr. Sturgess, a 
temperate, seasonable, manly, and, in some parts, an eloquent 
defence of the Protestant Cause. See his Answer to Mr. 
MUner. But in the House of Lords I find, 

" Still to one Bishop Milner seems a wit." 

Y la 



C 33s 3 

Turn law to trade, or deem religion vain ; 



And 



In our dread and natural horror of Atheism and of Anarchy, 
why arcwe to revive superstition and tyranny ? I have nothing 
to do with the emancipation of the Catholics in Ireland, but 
to my apprehension it is a measure full of danger. It is at 
one stroke to alter the fundamental law and constitution of the 
country. I write in Great Britain, and direct my thoughts for 
this kingdom, wishing for /zeace, tranquillity ^ and union between 
the two Islands. (July 1797.) 

(t) Nothing can be more offensive, more injudicious, and in 
some instances more profane, than when a Barrister a/tjieals to 
God for the truth of every assertion made in a court of law, and 
in many cases when the facts have been doubtful, and sometimes 
have been afterwards proved to be false. I call this a firime dis- 
grace-, and I hope no Barrister of ability will follow this flippant 
and rash habit of Mr. Erskine, in the Couit of King's Bench, 
which ive have all so repeatedly witnessed. Mr. Erskine's own 
better sense and serious thought (for I believe he has some 
serious thoughts) wili restrain him in future. But public men 
must be told of their faults publicly. (1797.) 

(//) The fate of the present Duke of Grafton is singular. He 
has been celebrated by the first prose writer, and the first poet of 
the age. (1797.) 

(%) See a long law-life in 4to. of the great Earl Mansfield, 
J,ord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench j by Mr. Holliday, 

in 

* ■ " ■> ■ « ■ — ■ 1 ■ ■ 1 — '■ »' ■ ■ '■ . ...... .- — -» 

I am glad however to see the attention which men of sense and 
judgment begin to give to the real spirit of the Roman 
Catholics ; and in proportion to the accuracy, learning, and 
judgment with which it is apprehended, understood, and repre- 
sented to this kingdom, in that same degree will our Consti- 
tution in Church and State be found and acknowledged to b$, 
the s:rongest bulwark of Christianity and Liberty. 

AngUa sic stabiit\ Christine ar& axta manehi$\ 



C 339 1 

And {b) Rose with coy submission, modest grace,. 
Rise to explain bis sinecures and place ; 
Or downright Peter (<z), rough with many a scar, 
Feather his quills, or smooth his shafts of war; 

Or 

in a very peculiar style indeed. For the greater part, it is a 
bundle of reports, and law pleadings strung together. It is 
astonishing to me, that Conveyancers and Attorneys, who 
really appear not to know how to construct a single sentence, 
without provoking a smile at some error in grammar, language, 
or metaphor, will think themselves qualified to deliver down 
to posterity the lives of great men. Luckily, Mr. Holliday's 
zeal does not offend us in rhyme. The friendship and the 
verse of Pope, as well as the splendour of his own abilities, and 
the dignity of their high exertions, have secured an eternity of 
reputation to Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, which can 
never fall—even by Mr. Holliday's attempt. (Nov. 1797.) 

(a) Sir John Scott, Attorney General. (1797O now the Rt* 
Hon. Lord Eldon. (1800.) 
(£) George Rose, Esq. Secretary to the Treasury, &c. &c. &c. 
&c. &c. &c. &c. &c. 

(a) The celebrated Peter Porcupine, or Mr. William Cobbett. 
I find the following character of him, written when he resided 
at Philadelphia, which I willingly transcribe, " America 
has not a more active, zealous, and useful citizen, or Great 
Britain a warmer friend, than honest Peter. In his literary 
features he is rather roughly stamped ; but he understands the. 
time. He can descant upon the deformity of it, and hold a 
looking glass to the world, wherein they may see strange sights*' 
There is a vigour, a simplicity, and an upright intention in all 
his works, which speak to the heart. When Nature and honesty- 
are working at the root, the plants will be sound and healthy. 
Lata etfortia surgunt 9 quijz/ie solo Natura subest, I offer, with 

Y s pleasure 



[ 34° 1 
Or He, whose Essence {aa) wit and taste approved* 
Forget the mulberry tarts (bb) that Dryden lov'cL 

Sooner 
pleasure, this passing tribute to a bold, sensible, industrious* 
spirited, and most deserving man."* 

If Mr. Cobbett will now consider the different meridians of 
London and Philadelphia, and the general polished state of 
society and taste in England, and will accordingly temper and 
regulate his language and his most honest zeal, I think, that his 
strong understanding, accurate information, and cogent argu- 
ments may effect much for the service of Great Britain at her 
utmost need. (Nov. 1800.) 

(aa) See the Second Edition of a Pamphlet entitled, " The 
Essence of Malone, or the Beauties of that fascinating 
Writer, extracted from his immortal work in Five Hundred 
Sixty-nine pages and a quarter, just published, and, with his 
accustomed felicity, entitled, Some account of the Life and 
Writings of John Dryden ! ! !" 

It is evidently the composition of a man of learning and 
genius, and a smart but playful satirist, who is also master of the 
liberal dialectic weapons of a Lawyer ; and Mr. Malone has 
perpetual reason to exclaim with Whiskerandos in the Critic, 
** That thrust in tierce was fatal."— These Canons of Biography, 
an eternal lesson to all the dull biographers and writers of the 
age, are not more happily conceived than illustrated with the 
wit and humour of Rabe'ais and Sterne, (Nov. 1800.) 

{bb) " He eat, with Madam Reeve, tarts at the Mulberry 
Garden," &c. Malone's Life of Dryden, p. 466. These Mul- 
berry Tarts, were not given to Dryden by the Minister of King 
Charles, but he paid Madam Reeve for them himself; though 
Mr. Malone has most unaccountably neglected to mention ih 
firice, and also how many he eat at one visit to the Lady ; which are 
the only omissions of consequence in that most fascinating piece of 
biography. The playful author of the Essence, like the JEgle 

Naiadurrj 

# JPrcfatory Epistle to the Translations of the P. of L. p* 49 



[ 34 l 1 
Sooner Lord William, and the Duke divide 
From their Elysian Father's (cc) holy side; 230 

Or the Bank bow to Pitt's imperial creed ; 
Or Dramatists to public trust succeed ; 
Sooner to France Thames roll his current strong, - 
Than men love verse, high fancy, or the song. 

Taught by the muse, and by her wisdom wise, 
Think not, a Poet's name I lightly prize : 
But in the wane of Empires, (mark the hour !) 
Vice and the Sword consolidate all pow'r; 
Laws pass their (c) bounds ; few statesmen stand erect; 

All 

Naiad um pulcherrima, has thrown a few flowery wreaths round 
this modern Drydenian wizard, when napping in his study, and 
for the amusement of the public, like the wanton nymph, has 
painted his forehead a little between his sleeping and waking; 
Iamque videnti 
Sanguineus frontem moris, et tempora pingit. 
Even in our days, Mr. Pitt's Confectioner has not indeed 
much business in making Mulberry tarts for the poets by order of 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, except for a very ingenious, 
poetical, and eloquent Anti-Jacobin, who has Mulberry tarts 
with Jiuff'paste every day from the Minister's own table, and 
sometimes Rice Crust by Mi% Dundas's Cook. See the India 
Board.— 6i I have begun to plant thee, and will labour to make 

THEE FULL OF GRpWING:" Ml*. P. to Mr. C. (NOV. l8oO.) 

ice) His Grace the Duke of Queensbsrry, Lord William 
Gordon, et sa Saintete Mcdicinale, Le Pere Elisee. Tria lumina 
Gentis. <w I like to preserve aU the little traits of character of the 
« { time." See Mr. Sheridan or Mr. Puff, in the Critic. 

(c) The violence, sedition, and daring wickedness of times 
like these produce the neegbsity of extending laws and regulations, 

Y 3 and 



! 342 ] 
All in their country's name, themselves protect; 
The public hopes with public credit sink, — 241 
At such an hour, when men to madness think, 
What is a Poet, what is fiction's strain ? 
Junius [d) might probe a Nation's wounds in vain. 

As from a diamond globe, with rays condense, 

'Tis Satire gives the strongest light to sense. 

To thought compression, vigour to the soul, 

To language bounds, to fancy due controul, 

To truth the splendour of her awful face, 

To learning dignity, to virtue grace, 250 

To conscience stings, beneath the cap or crown, 

To vice that terror she will feel, and own. 

But 

and acts which are declared temporary, and called for by that 

necessity alone. When the danger is passed, the Constitution 

is again left to protect itself by it's ancient laws, if that danger 

can now, or ever, pass from us. This is what Octavius seems 

to mean, by " laws passing their bounds," &c. in this and the 

following lines; and in this sense I hope he will be understood. 

(July 1797.) 

(d) O magna sacer et superbus umbra ! 

Stat.Sylv. L. 9. Carm. 7. 

Junius told the nation, that " a time might arrive, at which 
" every inferior consideration must yield to the Securityof the 
" Sovereign, and to the general safety of the State. 9i In- 
troduce to Lett. 35. This is not the doctrine of Home Tooke, 
and the desperate French Factions, and seditious societies now in 
England and Ireland. Junius had not so learned the Constitu- 
tion of England ; nor has the Author of the P. of L. so learned 
ii, (July 1797.) 






But if in love with fiction still, at Court 
Present in verse some new Finance Report, 
How taxes, funds, and debts shall disappear, 
Or in the fiftieth, or five-hundredth year. 

O'er secret armaments in silence doze, 
To Pult'ney's sailing join his Belgian prose ; 
Paint him triumphant o'er the Iberian main, 
" Divide and part his sever'd fleet in twain," (<?) 
At Malta, or the Tagus hail Sir Ralph, 261 

All ends attain'd, and all the soldiers safe ! 

Or on the gale to Britain's kindred shore 

Breathe songs of Union, and imperial lore; 

Her Senate firm, her statesmen nobly bold, 

Nor dup'd by Foster, nor to Grattan sold; 

In bright array see where lerne stands, 

Pitt's new Briareus with a hundred hands : 

What 

{e) A line from the art of Si?iking in &c. by Martinus 
Scriblerus. It is said that a new chapter on the art of Secrecy in 
campaigns by sea and land, in the hand-writing of that great states- 
man and philosopher Martinus Scriblerus, has lately been disco- 
vered at Pope's House at Twickenham, and kindly communi- 
cated to the ministers by the noble possessor. It is said to have 
been of singular service in some late expeditions, in which 
better appointed Fleets and more gallant armies were never sent 
forth to assert, protect, and amplify the power of the British 
Empire. (Nov. 1800,) 

Y4 



[ 344 ] 

What vocal transports round the Speaker play ! 

St. Patrick animates dull Stephen's clay ! 270 

While ancient art supplies unhop'd -for aid, 

And shews Job's patience (/) on the wall display 'd I 

Or tread the maze of picturesque delight, 

From Holwood paint with Pitt the prospect bright; 

Without one " line of boundary" to speech, 

The summit of conceit with Gilpin (g) reach. 

la 

if) When the House of Commons was enlarged for the re- 
ception-of the Imperial Parliament, after the Union Act between 
Great Britain and Ireland, several ancient paintings in fine 
preservation and in brilliant colours were discovered on the 
walls of St. Stephen's Chapel, one of which the Royal Society 
of Antiquaries in London, with an archness and anticipating 
pleasantry not always belonging to that Academie en coyps, has 
determined to be the family of the patient Job ! which 
is by some members considered as a beautiful periphrasis for 
the future H. of C. when they meet, O qui complexus et 
gaudia quanta ! 

It is said (I know not with what truth) that the Speaker in 
the excess and fervour of his gratitude wrote a letter of thanks 
to the Society on the occasion, which the ministers without 
any reluctance, signed in a round Robin. It is imagined, that the 
Speaker's eye will be frequently directed to this monument of 
ancient consolation in the course of every session, after the 
Irish imports. (Nov. 1800.) 

(g) I am under the necessity of making a strong remonstrance 
against the language of Mr. Gilpin's writings on Landscape and 
the Picturesque. It is such a sartago or" jargon of speech as is 
wholly unnecessary, though we are taught to believe them appro- 
priate terms. They absolutely appear in troops. Di$s—Boks~~ 

Grand 



C 345 1 

In Desolation s dread partitions felt, 
With diji, and fo/e, grand masses, burst, and £?//, 

With 

Grand Masses— Belts— tremulous Shudders — Bursts — plailiy Inunda* 
iions — Partitions of Desolation-— -Continents of Preci/iice— and a hun- 
dred more, till the English language sets all English meaning at 
.defiance. 

These terms are not the farce detorta of Horace, but mere 
jargon and foolish affectation. Dilettanti and Connoisseurs al- 
most blush to use them. A term or word may not be quite 
obvious or easy, and yet it may not be affected ; but the rage of 
the Concetto admits no " line of boundary," as these gentlemen 
love to talk. To use the words of Shakspeare in one of his own 
plays, (as it no%u seems, for Dr. Farmer and George Steevens, 
Esq. take from him and give to him ju<t as t/iey/ilase), " They 
44 absolutely make a battery through our defenceless parts/' 
Pericles Prince of Tyre, Act 5. Sc. 1. 

Simplicity in language is first to be sought ; strength and 
dignity will follow. Government, the arts, morality, and reli- 
gion, are all concerned in it's preservation. Mr. Gilpin's 
works on other subjects have and deserve high approbation ; 
and in all but the picturesque he seems as ready as any man 
to say, " State super vias antiquas." (1797.) 

As I am speaking of simplicity of expression, I cannot help 
recommending to the study and consideration of every young 
classical scholar the following lines; in which, without the 
aid of one single epithet, Komer presents us with the sublimest 
imagery, the most powerful language and harmonious verse, 
which are to be found perhaps in all ihe records of all poetry. 
It is the picture of Neptune raising a storm. 

£t ' ; snrcoVy (ruvayev vztyshocs, sr<x,poci^ oe ttovtov 
Hspm rpicuvav hXcov' wOsV&sV opoQvv&v otzXXas 

ILsLVTOLOM OCVSfJLCUV, CVV T£ VElQizSO'ffi koiXv^/s 

3T«w 6pc» v.*'. irovrov opajpsi *>' ypavoQev Nu% ! (a) 

I do 
(a) Odys, L. 5. v. 29. 



[ 346 ] 

With shudders tremulous explore your way, 
Through [ilashy inundations (/) led astray; 2,80 

'Till tir'd and jaded with the coxcomb strains, 
Homeward you steal through Surry's (g) quiet lanes* 
Renounce all Gilpin's jargon, said or sung, 
And talk of Nature's works in Nature's tongue. 
But still keep Method. 

AUTHOR. 

Method ? 

OCTAVIUS. 
Yes : 'tis plain, 
Connection, order, -method you disdain : 

Be 

I do not give this as a mere citation, but I give it to enforce 
strongly, that young men of genius can ouiy arrive at the 
maturity of excellence by the repeated perusal and meditation on 
such passages in the greatest authors. When Cicero speaks of 
Plato, he calls him with peculiar emphasis the " Dicendi magister 
et Effector Plato. 1 ' We may say the same of Homer and 
Demosthenes, and extend it as a general principle for those who 
study again and again the best and most finished parts of classical 
writers ancient or modern. It is by this exercise alone, joined to 
the practice of composition, that young men of genius and un- 
remitting application will preserve in this country the very sap 
and life-blood of eloquence, poetry, and just writing, pure and 
untainted with the neohgisme of French Lyceums, the jargon 
of debates, metaphysical vegetation, botanical rhyming, and 
1 Cruscm 



[ 347 ] 

Be regular .* from A to B proceed ; 

I hate your zig-zag verse, and wanton heed, 

AUTHOR. 

Say then, a simple Story shall I tell? 

A man of method is the theme. 290 

O C T A V I U S. 

'Tis well. 

AUTHOR. 

There liv'd a Scholar (h) late, of London fame, 

A Doctor, (/) and Morosophos (k) his name: 

From 

Cruscan nonsense. Learning will thus resume her rights, which 
her false representative has awhile usurped. 

Multos modo falsa revisens 

Lusit; 'AT IN SOLIDO RURSUS DoCTRINA LOCABIT. 

(Nov. 1800.) 

(/) Anglice, " Fens." 

(g) u Stealing through the quiet lanes of Surry," is an 
easy and happy expression (curnon omnia?) of Mr. Gilpin. See 
Observat. on the Lakes of Westmoreland, &c. Vol. a. p. 268. 

{h) When I am very particular in the description of a cha- 
racter, I abstain from giving the least hint of a real name. 
*' Quis rapiet ad se quod erit commune omnium? 5 ' or in Lc 
Sage's inimitable language, " qui se fera connoitre mal a 
*' propos?" I only give this as A Character, and say no more. 

(?) The word and title of " Doctor" is miserably abused. 
Erasmus long ago in an Epistle from Lou vain in 1520 to the 
celebrated Cardinal Campeggio, observed with some indigna- 
tion, " JJnde Doctoris titulo gloriantur, nisi ut doceant ?'* 
Erasmi Epist. ed. Lond. foj. 652. I wish this were written in 
large characters over the door of the Theatre at Oxford, and of 
the Senate- floyse at Cambridge. 



E 343 ] 

From all the pains of study freed long since, 

Far from a Newton, and not quite a (/) Vincei 

In metaphysics bold would spread his sails, 

And with Monboddo stiJI believ'd (m) la tails; 

At anatomic lore would sometimes peep, 

And call Earle (//) useful, Abernethy (0) deep ; 

With Symonds, and with Grafton's Puke(//] would vie, 

A Dilettante in Divinity; 

A special 

(A) Morosophos, i. e. Stulte sa/thns.-~"l$ut more presently of 
Bf . Morosophos, the Man of Method, 

(/) A very learned, diligent and useful Professor of Natural 
Ex-peri mental Philosophy at Cambridge. See his Works. 

(m) All the learned world know bow Lord Monboddo believed, 
paid still believes, that men had once tails depending from the 
gjithle- end of their bodies, supposing them to go upon all fours,, 

C*797). 

(«) James Earle, Esq. Senior Surgeon at St. Bartholomew's 
Hospital, and Editor of the celebrated Percival Pott's Works. 
I have been informed that the notes which Mr. Earle has added 
are valuable; nor would I pass in silence the treatises he haa 
given to the world in his own name, as the result of extensive- 
practice and observation. (1797.) 

(0) A young Surgeon of an accurate and philosophical spirit 
'of investigation, from whose genius and labours I am led to 
think, that the medical art and natural science will hereafter 
receive very great accessions. (17^7 ) x 

{/i} The Duke of Grafton, the Chancellor, and John 
Sjmonds, L. L» D. Professor of Modern History in riie 

University 






C 349 3 

A special clerk for method and for plan, 301 

Through 

University of Cambridge, have both attracted the public atten- 
tion by their various Hints and Observations on subjects of 
Scripture. 

As I never may have so convenient an opportunity, I will also 
offer a remark or two, which are new to me, on a passage in 
St. Paul's Epistles, if another Layman may be heard with in- 
dulgence. There is no particular conjecture as to the peculiar 
meaning or force of the following passage of St. Paul in the 
Second Epistle to Timothy. " The Cloak which I left at Troas 
" bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments** 
Ep. a. c. 4. v. 13. 

I would hint, that this Epistle was written from Rome when 
Paul was brought before Nero the. second time. Eypa(pr$ 
ecTro Yco^ns, ors ex SsvTEps 7nzpE<rr73 Uotv7<og rw K^ociaccpt Nspo/vir 
In the 22d Chapter of the Acts, Paul was tenacious of the 
privilege of Roman Citizenship, and it proved of much advan- 
tage to him before the Centurion. It may be, and it is, a mat- 
ter of mere conjecture, whether he might be required to prove 
himself a Citizen of Rome, when he was to make his defence, 
These parchments (/xspoCpyat) might contain some documents, 
or be a deed or diploma of some consequence to the matter 
in question. But as to the Cloak, there is something more par- 
ticular. The Cloak in the original, is €>eXcv'/55", or <$ai\ov/js 9 
which is undoubtedly a corruption for <D#ivo?^r, and it is so 
read* in the Codex M.S. Bibliothecae Cassarese Viennensis. 
$a,tvo?:riS was grecised from the Roman word Panula. 

This is no more than was done frequently in other languages 
and in other countries. Particularly when the seat of Empire was 
transferred from Rome to Byzantium, the lawyers of the Imperial 
Courts were obliged to grease many terms of law ; as ^ih'ko^ 

(JAGG\Zpitt$ 



[ 35° J 
Through science by the alphabet he ran. 

Prudent, 

fAKTCOipuis. for Jidei commissarios, 'Pstthoiov for re/tudium, (as in 
this passage, " EyAoyws- <h yuvy to Psnahov arsiKzis' ycrXJ* 
Justinian, Nov. 22.) KojvffEi/szv, for Censere, E|9reoirov for 
Exjieditum or Exjieditio, xcfj.irpQ[ju(r(rov for comjiromissum and other 
words as may be seen in Du Fresne's and other Lexicons, but 
In particular in a most singular and scarce Glossary by Meur- 
sius.* And in the East, before the accession of the House of 
Timour, the Arabian language was prevalent in Hindostan^ when 
the Hindoo Rajahs had Communication with the Mahommedan 
princes ; and it is remarkable, that the Arabian language is used 
technically in the Code of Gentoo laws. Ch. 2. S. 3. " That 
«' is a woman's property, during the Ayammi Shaddee." These 
words are the Arabic terms for the Days of Marriage. The trial 
of Mahorajah Nundocomar for forgery before the Supreme 
Court of Judicature in Bengal, will furnish many singular 
instances. 

But to return to the (frxivoXr,? or Panula. I would observe that 
when the Roman state degenerated into an absolute monarchy, 
many Citizens laid aside the Toga and wore the Pcenuia, or the 
Lacerna in it's stead. Augustus highly disapproved of this change 
in their dress. He was as Suetonius informs us, indignabundusy 
and gave orders to the iEdiles on the subject ; lt Negotium. 
M iEdilibus dedit, ne quern posthac in foro paterentur, nisi 
*' positis lacerntSy togatum consistere." Octav, C. 40. But the 

Pcettula 

* " Joannis Meursii Glossarium Grsco— Barbarum, in qua 
praeter vocabuia quinque millia quadringenta. OfHcia atque 
Dignitates Imperii Constantinop, tarn in Palatio, quam in Eccle- 
sia aut Militia explicantur et illustrantur," Lugd. Bat. 1614* 
It is worthy the attention of any scholar. 



C ss 1 1 

Prudent, as Newton, (?) in domestic care, 

With 

Tanula was still worn. As the Psenula was so specifically 3. 
Roman garment and worn only by Romans, St. Paul might 
wish, as a slight confirmation of his point, to shew what was his 
customary dress. It may be remarked, that the Psenula was a 
vestment which the Romans generally wore upon a journey- 
Juvenal observes in Sat. 5. t; Multo stillaret Paenula nimbo," 
and St. Paul says, that " he left it behind him at Troas.' ? 

This is only written as a mere literary remark to hint, that in 
the minutest passages of the Scriptures there may be some 
meaning; and that nothing can be so contemptible as a foolish, 
and profane ridicule, on any passage in the sacred writings, 
founded on ignorance. The present remarks are intended as & 
matter of some little curiosity : and I look upon them in no 
other view. But I think there is no passage in the Hebrew, or 
Greek Scriptures which will not at last admit of such an illus- 
tration or explanation, I mean phiklogi colly or critically^ as may 
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 

Much general information on these subjects is to be ob- 
tained from Harmer's valuable and satisfactory Observations 
on the Scriptures, collected from Voyages and Travels in 
the East; (four volumes 8vo.) and from " Letters from some 
" Jews to Mr. Voltaire." A man of real erudition, who merits 
the esteem of his fellow creatures, constantly keeps his know- 
ledge, his reason, and his prudence connected indissolubiy, or as 
it is well expressed by a philosopher, Ev avvotpfjuoya. alioc\vrta. 
Ticcra, Koyov apicrov.'* 

{q) The celebrated and learned Bishop Newton, late Bishop 
of Bristol, in his pleasant and ingenious account of his own 
jife, (written by himself,) has recorded the very useful, and 
{economical motives for his marriage. 

In 
f PJat.Timae. Locr, de Anima Mundi. Plat. Op. Edit, Serrani,' 
torn 3. p. 95, 



C 35* 1 

With no Scriblerian (qq) scruples for his Heir, 



He 



Inthe year 1761, Br. Newton thought seriously of taking a wife 
in second. His reasons were as follows, and may be serviceable 
to many Divines in their progress from Oxford and Cambridge 
to Lambeth, or in any of the intermediate stages. " O Vecchi 9 
ch* avete bisogno di Moglie ! and so on, &c. &c. &c. Schola de 
Mar it at i. 

" Dr. Newton found that the study of sacred and classic 
authors ill agree with accounts of Butchers and Bakers 
bills, and by daily experience he was convinced tKat it 
was not good to live alone, without a help meet for him. 
*And especially when he bad some prospect of a Bishopric. Fresh 
difficulties and troubles opened to his view, two houses — a 
greater number of servants — a better table and public days— 
and he plainly foresaw, that he must either fall a prey to ser- 
vants, or look out for some clever sensible woman to be his 
wife, who was a prudent manager and ceconomist, and could lay 
out his money to the best advantage: who had no more taste, and 
love of pleasure than a reasonable woman should have ; who 
would be happier in staying with her husband at home, than 
in perpetually gadding abroad; who, though she brought no 
fortune, might save one, and be a fortune in herself." 

In short the Doctor married on the 5th Sept. 1761, and on the 
28th of the same month hekissedhk Majesty's hand on his Bishop- 
ric. The Doctor was lucky. Oscula libavit, dein talia fatur; i. e. 
the Bishop adds, " A lady of quality, a friend of his, said upon 
his marriage, it was the wisest thing he ever did in his life: and 
that she was the most proper wife for him in the world. And 
indeed, says the Bishop, she more than answered his warmest 
wishes, &c." Bp. Newton's Life, 8vo. ed. vol. 1. p. 81.-— 
Except in two aculeated closing words, his Lordship does nafc 
take into bis account of wedded lovf> '_< the golden shafts, the 

" constaafe 



[ 353 1 

He took, not e'en in thought inclin'd to rove, 

A wife for regularity, not love. 

A little architect in all his schemes; 

Some say, he had a method in his dreams s 

Banks gave him morning lessons how to dress, 310 

And Morgan (r) whisper'd courage and finesse. 

Three sessions in the House he daily toil'd, 

In every plan, in every motion foil'd; 

Till like grave Nicholls in a pet he swore, 

" I'll move myself \ the House I move no more ;'* 

Then penn'd to Pitt his monitory strain, (jr) 

As Murray, clear, and as fond Randolph, plain.' 

Resolv'd 

" constant lamp, or the purple wings," which Milton celebrates, 
and Husbands feel. 

" O Vecchi) che avete bisogno di moglie, &C. &c. &c. Sec, 1 * 
Episcopal Air and Rondeau repeated^ by a Chorus of Doctors and 
Chaplains. 

{qq) See the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus. Chap. 1. H010 
Dr. Cornelius observed all the rules given by the anticnts to 
those who desire to generate children of wit, which Dr. Moro- 
sophos magnanimously disregarded. He neither cared for the 
South nor the West Wind. 

(r) Maurice Morgan, Esq. an ingenious writer and author 
of the pleasant Extravaganza on the Character of Sir John 
Falstaff, which should be now reprinted. Mr, Morgan is known 

Z to 



[ 354 1 

Resolv'd on ease* his travels were at home, 

And Lum'sden (s) tatight him to converse on Rome : 

The arch Palladian and the Parian stone 320 

He lov'd, the pride of Chambers and of Soane. (/) 

But late, by Carter's (u) holy pencil won> 

Wyatt and Gothic heresy would shun - 9 

And 

to his intimate friends by the name of Sir John. In his politics^ 
he is of the Lansdown school. ( 1 797.) 

(rr) The three great, yet familiar, Letter -writers of the age are, 
JohnNicholls, Esq. M. P.forTregony (1797)- Sir James Murray 
(Pulteney) when Secretary to the Duke of York in Germany, 
and the Rev. Dr. Randolph. — See " A Pair of Epistles in verse, 
<( with notes : the first to the Rev. Dr. Randolph, &c." ad 
edition. 1796. I recommend them to the general entertain- 
ment, and perhaps instruction, of the public. 

(s) That ingenious, accomplished, and very learned gentleman, 
Andrew Lumisden, Esq. F. A. S. Edimb. has since that time 
taught us all to converse with knowledge and accuracy on 
the subject, in the most agreeable scholar-like manner. See 
c f His Remarks on the Antiquities of Rome and it's Environs, 
*"* being a classical and topographical Survey of the Ruins of 
tc that celebrated City." 4*0. 1797. It is a pleasing and most 
judicious performance of a Gentleman who appears to have en- 
joyed the united advantages of foreign travel, studious leisure, 
and polite company. (1=797.) 

(/) Two celebrated architects. The professional knowledge 
of Sir W* Chambers, Knight, (of most heroic memory,) was 
profound and substantial. Mr. Soane has more fancy and airiness 
of design, and is certainly a man of information and ingenuity. 
But he indulges himself a little too much in extravaganzas aad 
whims. See the Bank* 



C 355 I 

And oft in thought, by antique pavements laid $ 

With Lysons (x) guide the military spade; 

Nay once, for purer air o'er rural ground; 

With little Daniel (y) went his twelve miles round. 

Oft 

(») I am obliged for this information to a Fellow of the S. of 
Antiquaries. Mr. Carter is a draftsman of the very first merit, 
but his catholic zeal betrayed him, assisted by some Morosophists 
of the Society, to attack the first genius in Architec- 
ture, in this kingdom, Mr. Wyatt. Longa est injuria; longte 
ambages. It is difficult to prove that the Society of Antiquaries 
was instituted, solely to preserve the purity of Gothic Archi- 
tecture, or to listen to the tiresome cabals of busy Baronets 
and meddling Romish priests. — But to us, under the auspices of 

Wyatt, 

O Fortunati quorum pi a tecta resurgunt ! 

i£neas ait, et fastigia suspicit urbis. (Nov. 1797.) 

(x) Samuel Lysons, Esq. F. R. S. and A.S. The most ju- 
dicious, best informed, and most learned amateur Antiquary in 
this kingdom, in his department. Do lubens manus Fitruvio* 

His work on the remains of the Roman Villa and pavements 
at Woodchester, near Gloucester, (which a friend has just 
shewn me,) is such a specimen of ingenuity, unwearied zeal,, 
and critical accuracy in delineating and illustrating the frag- 
ments of antiquity, as rarely has been equalled, certainly never 
surpassed. His Majesty was so pleased with some of Mr. 
Lysons's attempts (near Dorchester I think,) that a party of 
the militia was detached to assist him in digging among the 
ruins, A friend of mine was much entertained with the three 
tents erected on the spot, and a detachment of soldiers storming 
a fort under ground, under the orders of an Antiquary. Hence 
my allusion to the military s]iadc.—Ol the genius, judgment, 
knowledge, and perseverance of this Gentleman in the depart- 



I 356 3 

On Sundays at Sir Joseph's (2) never fail'd, 
So regular, you might have thought him bail'd ; 329 

With 

ment he has undertaken, it is difficult to speak in terms of 
sufficient approbation. (Nov. 1797.) 

(y) The Rev. Daniel Lysons, M. A. the Brother of Samuel 
Lysons, Esq. An ingenious and diligent Antiquary, but of an 
inferior class ; I mean as to the respective subjects of their works,* 
He is author of The Environs, twelve miles round London. 
But really, in these hard times, Four large Volumes in 4to. 
wire-wove and hot-pressed, and Six Guineas paid down on the 
table, and the books unbound, (and an appendix threatened) 
are rather too much for parish-registers, births, deaths, and 
marriages ; or even for 'the delights of Islington, Homerton* 
Hackney, Clapton, Acton, and all the rural retreats of City 
innocence and pure air, in the neighbourhood of town. 
The work should have been printed in 8vo. My only objection 
is to the typographic pomp and expence of a book on such a 
subject ; and I think most persons will agree with me. (Nov* 
J 797-) 

(z) Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. Knight of the Bath, President 
of the Royal Society, Privy Counsellor, &c.&c.&c. has instituted 
a meeting at his house in Soho Square, every Sunday evening, 
at which the Literati, and men of rank and consequence, and 
men of no consequence at all, find equally a polite and pleasing 
reception from that justly distinguished Gentleman. Sir Joseph 
Banks is fitted for his station in the learned world, not more 
from his attainments and the liberality of his mind, than by his 
particular and unremitted attention to the interest and advance- 
ment of natural philosophy, and his generous patronage of the 
Arts. 

FORTUNE MAJORIS HONOS, ERECTU3 ET ACER!* (l 797-_J 

* Claudian. 



[ 357 J 
With Jones a linguist, Sanscrit, Greek, or ManksJ 
And could with Watson play some chemic pranks | 
Yet far too wise to roast a diamond (a) whole, 
And for a treasure find at last a coal. 

Sometimes he'd treat, his wines of chosen sort; 
Will. Pitt, with honest Harry, lov'd his [b] port; 
The Bengal Squad (r) he fed, though wondrous nicef 
Baring his currie took, and Scott his rice. 

In 

(a) The ingenious Mr. Tenant has shewn, in a paper read 
at the Royal Society, that he can reduce a Diamond by evapora- 
tion to Charcoal. I have heard, that Mrs. Hastings, and othef 
great possessors of diamonds, have a kind QtTtnanto -phobia, and 
are shy of this gentleman. A poor Poet, like myself, who has 
neither diamonds nor any thing precious belonging to him, cas* 
only remind Mr. Tenant and the Royal Society of the old 
proverb, " Carbonem pro Thesauro."' 

(b) I can give no better character of his old Port. We all 
iuiow on such occasions, M Bacchum in remotis rupibus" is thg 
song of. bmest Harry Pundas, in all the wildne§s of highland 
Dithyrambic ; while Mr. Pitt, on the battlements of Walmer, 
in his own and Virgil's sober majesty, " oceano libemus, ait»" 

(c) Privatis majora focis : I can have nothing to. say to 
them ; Dr. Morosophos was bolder than I can venture to be. 
I could write down a pleasant collection ; several of whom are 
Reformers, Mr. Philip Francis, little Michael Angeio, &c&c.&c« 
$>ut none of them are disposed to extend the question of Rtfoify 
in a more important department. 

Z 3 D'ou 



t 358 ! 

In Scrip : not Hemings'(J) self more vers'd than he 
The Solomons, or Nathan, or E. P. ; 
Loyal and open, liberal of cash, 34^ 

(Nut your damn'd dollars (e)> or Bank-paper trash) 
Nor tax, nor loan he fear'd, at table free, 
And drank the Minister with three times three ; (/) 

Till 

B'ou ce Visage enfin, plus pale qu> un Rentier, 

A 1'aspect d'un arret, qui retranche«« quartier ?* 

Qui vous a pii plonger dans cet humeur chagrine? 

[ rf't-onjfiar quelaueedit REFORMe la cuisine ? 

Boileau, Sat 3, 

{d) Dr. Morosophos now and then dabbled in the funds. 
The Gentlemen of the Stock Exchange^ or The College, (as it is 
termed in City-wit) are much indebted to that eminent calcu- 
lator of the different payments, Mr. Hemings. Boyd, Benfield, 
Solomon Solomon, Nathan Solomon, E. P. Solomon, Thellusson, 
Old Daniel Giles, Mr. Battie, Lord Lansdowne, Dr. Moore, 
3Little Count Rupee, and all those who look an eighth better or 
Worse for the opening, know that I am right, in pronouncing the 
panegyric of this learned classic on the Stock Exchange. (1798.) 

H Prens moi le bon parti ; laisse la tous les livres. 

61 Exerce-toi, monfils, dans ces hautes sciences; 

** Prens, an lieu d'un Platon, ce Guidon des Finances." 

Avis de Boileau, Sat. 8. 

(<?) This verse was evidently written after the 26th of Feb, 
a 797, after the order of Council was sent to the Bank of England, 
when the whole nation was made to pass through the pillars of 
Hercules ; or in plain English, to take dollars for current silver. 

* Mr. Pitt is supposed to have taken his hint of the quadruple 
fssessment from Boileau, and to have improved upon it. (*797») 



C 559 ] 

Till with a pun old Caleb (g) crown'd the whole, 

** Consols, and not philosophy, console" 320 

He 

(/) Certainly Dr. Morosophos did this, before Mr. Pitt 
<fame rabida tria guttura pandens) conceived the idea of the 
fri/ile assessment, or, perhaps three times three. — (Nov. 1797.) 
Sir Robert Herries, though no great poet, understands this 
subject better than I do. 

Let me present a short passage from a Letter to Mr. Pitt on 
the occasion of the Triple Assessment. " Things, Sir, are now 
changed. Time was, when Bankers were as stupid as their gui- 
neas could make them ; they were neither orators, nor painters, 
nor poets. But now, Mr. Dent has a speech and a bitch* at your 
service; Sir Robert has his pencil and canvas; and Mr. Rogers 
dreams on Parnassus; and, if I am rightly informed, there is a 
great demand among his brethren for the Pleasures of Memory. 
Sir Robert chose the Autumn with propriety for his sketch. The 
leaves are indeed falling thick around us ; they strow the brook* 
in Vallombrosa, and imbrown the heights of Holwood."f 

By way of refreshment^ I would observe, that the progress 
of the present magnificent system of Taxation, as conceived, 
illustrated, and established by Mr. Pitt, rolling through all 
the notes of finance from the Commutation to the deep 
majestic diapason of the Income act, may be classically re- 
presented by one of the most animated passages in Mr. Gray's 
Letters, when the comprehensive genius of the poet sketched 
a progress through Italy. It marks the strides of a vast, capa- 
cious, and congenial mind. " When you have seen Rome and 
u Naples, strike out of the beaten path of English travellers, see 
•' a little of the country, throw yourselves into the bosom of 
*' the Apennine, survey the horrid lake ofAmsanctus, catch 
*' the breezes on the coast of Tarento and Salerno, expatiate to> 
•' the very toe of the continent, strike over the Faro of Messina, 
'* and having measured the gigantic columns of Girgenti, 

Z 4 and 

* John Dent, Esq. M.P. the Invents of the dog and bitch-h\\\> 
f Letter to Mr, Pitt on the Triple Assessment, 



C 360 ] 

He talk'd, like Indian [h) Rennel, rather long; 

And would at times regale you with a song; 

But'seldom that : in music though a prig, 

The little Doctor swell'd, and look'd so big. 349 

Nay to Greek (/) notes would trill a Qrecian ode, 

In diatonic kind and Lydian mode; 

And 

and the tremendous caverns of Syracusa, refresh yourselves 
amid the fragrant vale of Enna ! ! ! Oh, die bel rijiosa /" % Mr. 
Gray adds to his friend, in which I join most cordially to the 
Minister, " Add 10 !*' and to the United Empire, Esto Perfietua ! 

Men of poetical minds alone will relish this note ; it will be 
caviar at the Treasury, and in the land of Abraham. (Nov. 1800.) 

(g) Caleb Whitefoord, Esq. Jf yon do but touch him, 
puns stand as ready as quills upon the fretful porcupine. I wish 
him health^aud spirits for many a year, in a g?een old age; and 
then with the Epinicion of Horace, Vita cedat, uti conviva satur. 

(/)) Major James Rennell, the great Geographer of India, 
o 7rocvv. He is a gentleman to whose accuracy and extent of 
knowledge in that department, this country is considerably 
indebted. But this has nothing to do with his conversation. 

(/) Dr. Morosophos, the man of method, was rather trouble- 
some to his friends on this subject of Greek Music. He 
wished to pass for another Meibomius. But there is still 
reason to think that he never saw the three hymns to Calliope, 
Apollo, and Nemesis, printed with the Greek musical notes 
to which they were sung, at the end of the Oxford edition of 
Aratus in 1672, by Dr. Fell, or the more accurate copy of these 
hymns in Mr. Burette's Memoire on this subject. Memoires 
de PAcademie des Inscriptions Tom. 5. — Dr. Morosophos 
knew but little of the system of the Lydian Mode in the dia- 
tonic genus. There is also reason to think that he knew as 

iittta 

J Gra'y's Memoirs, lett. 48. sect, 4. 



L 3^1 ] 

And then with Burney, as his fit grew warmer, 
Convers'd on Stentor, the great (k) throat -performer : 
Or with Raimondi's fire, and warlike art, 
Play'd some French General's obligato [kk) part. 

A Poet 

little as Bishop Horsley, of the FIpoo-Xa/xCavoptEVo;, the tiazvn 
V7rccrcov, or the Yla.pv7ta.rn [asgcjv, Sec. 

(£) " Stentor is celebrated by Homer as the most illustrious 
throat /informer of antiquity." Burney's Hist, of Music. 4to. 
vol. 1. p. 340. 

(k%) I allude to Signor RaimondPs exquisite and interesting 
piece of instrumental music intended to ex/iress a battle. It 
is called a Battle Symphony. It consists of eight different 
movements, in which the musical General Raimondi powerfully 
calls on the imagination of the hearer to assist the Composer. 
The third movement amuses and alarms me the most. It an- 
nounces "• the Council of War, composed of Eight 
** Generals represented by Eight different Instruments 
li ohligati, which at last, in their accord, in a general cadence 

U EXPRESS THEIR UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION OF GIVING 

" Battle !" Bravo, Maestro! E Guglielmi («) die ti lo dice. 
In this manner, Dumourier, Custine, Pichegru, Miranda, 
Hoche, Be r thier, Angereau, and Bonaparte, have each played 
their obligato part in Europe, con furia, as assigned them by the 
Convention and the musical Directory of France. Europe has 
by no means approved of the general cadence; but the Concert 
as still proceeding in all the harmony of horror, and barbaric 
symphony. 

Rendono un alto suon, eh' a quel s'accorda 
Con che i vicin cadendo il Nilo assorda! (b) 
But with respect to Great Britain, I hope and trust that a Band 
of our own British Musicians will put to silence and drown all 

their 
(?) QJ William Pitt* (b) Ariosto. Orlando Furioso. C.i6, 



C 362 ] 

A Poet too he was, not very bright, 

Something between a Jerningham, and (n) Knight t 

He dealt in tragic, epic, critic lore, 

With half, whole plans, and episodes in store, 

Method was all; yet would he seldom write, 360 

He fear'd the ground-plot wrong, or — out of sight. 

At last the Doctor gave his friends a work ! 

(Not verse, like Cowper, or high prose, like Burke,) 

Chambers 

their ohligato parts, on their citizen rafts and barges, by a general 
cadence, and a well-executed, masterly, choral performance of 
cur own Water Music. (Feb. 1798.) 
(#) Knight and Jerningham. 

<e Satire was late their physic, wit their food ; 
One nourish'd not, and t'other drew no blood."* 
!But let them both hear the advice of Bcileau j 
Soyez filutot macon, si e'est votre talent, 
Ouvrier estime dans nn art necessaire, 
Qu 1 ecrivain du commun^ & fioete vulgaire?*\ 
Mr. Jerningham may possibly remember and admire these 
beautiful lines in Dryden's Epistle to Mr. Julien, Secretary 
** the Muses ; and other persons may apply them. 
" All his care 
Is to be thought a Yoetfine and fair; 
Small Beer and gruel are his meat and drink, 
The diet he prescribes himself to think ; 
Rhyme next his heart he takes at morning peep, 
Some love-epistles at the hour of sleep ; 
And when his passion has been bubbling long, 
The scum at last boils up into a song.'* 

* Dryden's Prologue to Albion and Albanius* 
t Art. Poet. C. 4. 



C 363 ] 

Chambers abridg'd! in sooth 'twas all he read^ 
From fruitful A to unproductive Zed. 

OCTAV1US, 

What then? for ever shall we wildly stray, 
And pluck each hare»bell in the flow'ry way ? 
Or void of judgement, fire, and critic force, 
Stoop to each golden apple in the course ? 
I never can with argument dispense; 373 

Pope gave the verse, but Warburton (0) the sense* - 

AUTHOR, 

? Tis true; by plan and syllabus (//) connVd, 
Knight thus composes first the reader's mind. 

To 

(©) Octavius is right in some degree. The commentary of 
Warburton on Pope's moral poems is peculiarly valuable, and 
explains many seeming inconsistencies. Pope thought so him- 
self. 

Warburton appears on this, as well as on some other and 
priore important occasions, to have been selected for the 
peculiar exellence, that idiosyncrasy, (if I may use the term) of 
his genius, learning, and understanding, ExXsktos- yavo^vof 
$*7« rtrn; OY2E&2 EEAJPETON IAIftMA.-r 
f Cleoient. Alexandria Stromal Lib. 6. p. 480. 



i m i 

To rouse attention is the poet's art ; 
Knight calls to sleep, and acts a civil part : 
Save to his view when foul Priapus (q) rose, 
He wak'd to lust in stimulating prose. 

But though that Garden-God forsaken dies^ 
Another Cleland (r) see in Lewis (s) rise. 



Why 



(j>) Par classes et par //7m, 

Dogmatizer en vers, et rimer par chapitres. 

Boileau, Sat. 8. ii£. 

(q) Concerning Mr. Knight's Treatise on the Worship of 
Priapus, in addition to what I before said (P. of L. Dial. i. 
v. 134. Note (g). I shall offer the spirited words of Clemens 
Alexandrinus, from his Aoyoy Ylporp^riyos Ei$ ms JfoXwas » 
or, Admcnitio ad Gentes : 

Tavra, £{jmv tn; fj$v<7TxQsnx$ rot cx.pyj.tvitoc^ avraci ti\s v£p'ca$ 
tit QcoXoyixt, (zvtcci ruv cvyniop vzuovroov vfuii ©ca»v ca c>i$oc(ry,(x~ 
Xtaf — ITavuxcx, v.a.1 yv[Avai xoptzi, xxi MOPI.QN ENTA-* 
2EIX r«<5 yp«{pai5 arc'oyv/xva/xsvar — Hraj/wjxev CfXiV ttx, wm, 

rov avQpaJKov, x.oci to evQeov th iiXcco pottos sksyxEi xtrap^avrerl 
xtX,* I now dismiss this odious Treatise on Priapus/^r ever. 

The learned reader will recollect that Clemens Alexan- 
drinus lived in the third century under Alexander Severus and 
Caracalla, was a native of Athens, and that the famous Origei* 
studied in his school. 

(r) John Cleland, author of " The Memoirs of a Woma© 
" of Pleasure." 

* Clem, Alex. p. 30, &c. Edit. Commelin. 161&. 



[ 3% I 

Why sleep the ministers of truth and law? 380 

Has 

{s) M. Lewis, Esq. M* P. author of " The Monk, a Romance, 
'* in 3 Vol." (V0I.2. Ch. 6. and 7.) See my Observations at 
length in the preface to this Fourth Dial, of the P. of L. 

The publication of this novel by a Mem for of Parliament is in 
itself so serious an offence to the public^ that I know not how the 
author canrepairthis breachof public decency, but by suppressing 
it himself. Or he might omit the indecent and blasphemous pas- 
sages in another edition; there is neither genius nor wit in them, 
and the work, as a composition, would receive great advantage. 
I wish he may at least take this advice. I will give Mr, Lewis 
an extract from the ninth Book of the History of Procopius, 
called the Historic Arcana of the Emperor Justinian and the infa- 
mous Theodora. The words are these 1 

A"k\o ts /xot svSstv yQvs <jrspifAV7)fJi>cyeV(rcci tbSs ^£ AvQpufts ovT 
htiovv oifxai. &7rocvTx yotp oovra. tec tri; ^vyrris Ttat&vi xros ocv 
a&xpzcu; (rnij.nvcii hapxeus an. Ette* htrns a,?\.oynaa; tnv virzp 
rcov ffcTpccyiAzvcvv tr,v «i(r%yv7jv, «x oc7roc^io7 this zvTvyxjzvucst 
Q^aXvpos (paivsaOeu, taraj ^73 B^spcTa irocpocvofxiocs atzpiros uQaros* 
aKkac tnv ocvoliSeiolv oca ta [mtoj-kh TrpOoeCATj/xsvos", pocctcc ts koli 
a^fvi ttovco £$■ twv Trpa^Boov txs (juxpajratas %wpzt. (a) 

J wish Mr. Lewis may read and profit from this passage. 
(July 1797.) 

Novels of this seductive and libidinous tendency excite dis- 
gust, fear, and horror, in every man and woman who reflect 
upon those virtues which alone give support, comfort, and con- 
tinuance to human Society. The interests of Society and the 
essential welfare, and even the very existence, of this kingdom, 

authorise 
(a) P/ocop t Histor, Arcan* Lib, 9. p, 46. Ed, Fol. Lugdun. 163-3, 



C 366 3 

Has the State no control, no decent awe, 

While 

authorise any man, though conscious of manifold frailties, to 
speak in the manner I have done. We cannot long deceive 
ourselves: poetical men, of loose and ungoverned morals, can 
offer to us or to themselves but feeble consolations from wit and 
imagery, when left to solitary reflection and the agony of remorse. 
I never found this subject so well represented, and so unan- 
swerably enforced to every understanding, capable of recalling 
itself from vicious conduct and irregular inclinations, as in this 
short sentence : u Whoever wholly give themselves up to Lust, 
•* will soon find it to be the least fault they are guilty of* 

In this place I cannot help recommending, with peculiar 
earnestness, the attentive perusal of one of the most instructive 
and useful short pieces of Biography which I ever read, in the 
life of Dr. Johnson, by the learned Sir John Hawkins: from 
p. 222 to p. 232. It is particularly important to many young 
men who live in the allurements of a great and high-viced town, 
or among freethinking literati, and the more calm and sober 
sensualists. Men who live in London, and keep much com- 
pany, will feel the force of the observations. It is the account 
of Mr. John Dyer y a man of genius, politeness, and learning. The 
conclusion of it in the words cf Sir John Hawkins is very im« 
pressive. 

" I have been thus particular in the history of this accom- 
plished and hopeful young man, whom I once loved with the 
affection of a brother, with a view to shew the tendency of idle- 
ness, and to point out at what avenue Vice may gain admittance 
in minds, seemingly the most strongly fortified. The assailable 
part of his mind was laxity of principle : at this entered infidelity^ 
which was followed by such temptations to pleasure as he could 
see t,o reason to resiit. These led on to desires after the means of 
gratification, and the pursuit of them was his Destruction.'' 

1 Tg 






[ 3^7 1 

While each with each in madd'ning orgies vie, 
Panders to lust, and licensed blasphemy ? 
Can Senates hear without a kindred rage? 
Oh may a Poet's light'ning blast the page, 
Nor with the bolt of Nemesis in vain 
Supply the laws, that wake not to restrain, 1 

Is ignorance the plea? since Blackstone drew 
The lucid chart, each labyrinth has a clue, 
Each law an index : students aptly turn 590 

To Williams, Hale, judicious (/} Cox, and Burn; 

Obscenity 

To conclude. Whatever I have said on the subject of this 
Novel, called the Monk, I shall leave as matter of record, 
whether the Novel is altered, or not. The tenor of the whole 
is reprehensible. I leave it as a protest against such a work, 
published in such a manner, by a Gentleman in the high, 
honourable, and responsible station of a Member of Parliament. 
It is hoped and expected that no similar work will ever again 
be given to this country. (Added ; Nov. 1797.) 

(/) Samuel Cox Esq. of the Court of Chancery, the Editor 
(at his leisure hours) of the reports of Peere Williams. I am 
not very conversant with professional law books, but a learned 
person shewed me Mr. Cox's mode of illustration, and desired 
me to consider it. I really think, that it seems as a model for all 
future Editors of Reports of former years. This plan is evident!/ 

the 



f 368 ] 

Obscenity has now her code and priest* 
"While Anarchy prepares the dire Digest. 

Methinks as in a theatre I stand, 
Where Vice and Folly saunter hand in hand, 
With each strange form in motley masquerade, 
Featured grimace, and impudence pourtray'd; 
While Virtue, hov'ring o'er th' unhallow'd room. 
Seems a dim speck through Sin's surrounding gloom, 
As through the smoak-soil'd glass (n) we spy from far 
The circling radiance of the Sirian Star, 401 

Faint wax the beams, if strong the fumy tint, 
Till the Star fades, a mathematic point, 

Sure from the womb I was untimely torn, 

Or in some rude inclement season born ; 

The State turns harsh on fortune's grating hinge, 

And I untaught to beg, or crouch, or cringe: 

For 

the mode of a most judicious understanding and of a well-read 
Lawyer. Transeat in exemplum !' (1797*) 

(u) u If the eye glass be tincted faintly with the smoke of a 
lamp or torch to obscure the light of the star, the fainter light 
in the circumference of the star ceases to be visible, and the 
star (if the glass be sufficiently soiled with smoke) appears 
something more like a mathematic point.*' 

Newton 1 s Optics, Prop. 7. Theor. 6» 






t tf9 1 

For me-' the fates no golden texture weave* 
Though happier far to give than to receive. 
Yes; with unvaulting sober wishes blest, 410 

Ambition flies with envy from my breast; 
For friendship form'd, I feel, in realms above, 
My Saturn temper'd by the beam of Jove, 

I cannot, will not, stoop with boys to rise, 
And seize on Pitt, like Canning, (x) by surprise, (x%) 
Be led through Treasury vaults in airy dance, 
And flatter'd into insignificance. 
I cannot, will not, in a college gown, 
Vent my first nonsense on a patient town, 
Quit the dull Cam, and ponder in the park 42c 
A six-weeks Epic, (y) or a Joan of Arc* 

I leave 

{x) George Canning Esq. M. P. Under Secretary of State, 
«c» Etonian of much ingenuity, liveliness, and learning. 

(xx) The Novels, Farces, most of the Plays,' Romances, Bal- 
lets, and Pantomimes, of the day, are all founded :on — Surprise. 
Why not the ministerial Coups de Theatre ? 

(y) Robert Southy, author of many ingenious pieces in verse 
of great promise, if the young gentleman would recollect what 
eld Chaucer says of poetry, 

Tis every d^le 
A rock of ice and not of steel, 

A a He 



[ 37° ] 

I leave these early transports, and the calm 
Complacence, and the softly trickling balm 
Self-consolation sheds, more sweet than all 
Burke felt in senates, or Impeachment's Hall; 
Borne to that course, where thund'ring from afar 
The Great Auruncian (2) drove his primal car. 

E'en now, when all I view afflicts my sight, 

All that Home Tooke (a) can plot, or Godwin (b) 

■ write 5 

Now 

He gave the public a long quarto volume of epic \*erses, Joan 
of Arc, written, as he says in the preface, in six nueeks. Had 
he meant to write well, he should have kept it at least six years, 
I mention this, for I have been much pleased with many of 
the young gentleman's little copies of verses. I wish also that he 
would review some of bis principles, (1797.) 

(z) Lucilius; 

(a) Mr. Horne Tooke, in the conclusion of his " Diversions 
of Purley,'* makes an apology for applying himself to subjects 
so trivial as grammatical discussions, in the year 1786. He 
■uses the words of an Italian poet, which are very remarkable, 
though they never have been much noticed. 

Perche altrove non have 

Dove voltare il viso, 

Che gli } stato interciso 

Mostrar con altre imprese altra <virtude. 

The hour was however approaching, when his countenance was t* 
be turned to other thoughts, and he was to display other talents 

which 



t 37* J 

Now when Translation to a pest is grown; 430 

And 

which had almost slept since the time of Junius. At the blast 
©f the French revolutioiwhe awoke from grammatical slumber; 
and found that other enterprises awaited htm. We have traced 
his proceedings till his trial at the Old Bailey for high treason, 
Nov. 4, 1794. His plans were unfolded, and though he was 
acquitted, and «' Execution was not done on Cawdor," yet it ir 
not impossible that hereafter, (after his decease,) some honest 
chronicler may be found, 

« Who will report (irt private) 
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons* 
Implof 'd his country's pardon, and set forth 
A deep repentance." {Macbeth.) 

Till that hour arrives, I shall wait for the continuation of his 
grammatical researches, which are promised to the world, with 
the celebrated wish of the Satirist; 

Ut vellem his potius nugis tota ilia dedisset 

TEMPORA SJEVITfis! 

jFrom the abilities arid uncommon erudition of Mr, Home 
Tooke 1 dread much, and from the calmness and mildness of 
his conversation I should apprehend perhaps more. But as I 
think the whole Kingdom is fully, and deeply, and solemnly, 
and unalterably impressed with the nature, the malignity, the 
extent, the influence, and the terror of the grand Revolutionary 
Principle, and the desperate fury of Reforming societies and 
embodied factions, I trust Great Britain and her Ministers will 
never suffer the arm of justice and of vigilance to remit, or to 
relax it's energies. (Nov. 1797.) 

(h) See an account of this weak and contemptible writer, 
William Godwin, and his Political Justice, in Dialogue III. of 
the P, of L>-~ See also a future note in this Fourth Dialogue, 

A a z 



[ 37 2 1 
And Holcroft (c) to French treason adds his owii. 
When Gallic Diderot in vain we shun, 
His blasted pencil, Fatalist, (d) and Nun; 
When St. Pol (e) sounds the sacring bell, that calls 
■His Priests en masse from Charles's ruin'd walls -, 
When Thelwall, (/) for the season, quits the Strand 
To organize revolt by sea and land; 
When Barristers (g) turn authors ; authors (h) prate; 
Charles Fox allegiance dares to calculate, 

And 

(c) T&omas Hoieroft.— An author, a translator of plays and no- 
vels, and a would-be directing Statesman, tried for High Treason 
at the Old Bailey in 1794, and acquitted. HorneTooke cannot 
be much pleased with this compeer. - Scurra degrunnit prior. See 
the fable. (1797.) 

(d) The names of his posthumous novels, translated for the, 
benefit of Great Britain. 

(<?) The Bishop of St. Pol de Leon, to whom the care of the 
Prench Emigrant priests is committed en masse. The reader 
may recollect they were maintained in the old mansion built by 
Charles the Second at Winchester. — See the Preface to this 4th 
Dialogue of the P. of L. 

(f) This indefatigable incendiary and missionary of the 
French Propaganda, John Tbehvall, has now his Schools of Reason 
in country towns, Sec, &c. Hcpuraats sfx^aivo^svo^ (July 1797.) 

(g) Mr. Barrister Erskine.— See more of him and his pam- 
phlet on the French war in a future note, 

U>) I refer to the House of Commons, 



t 373 I 
And with his sulph'rous torch relumes the pile 440 
With unaverted p) face, and ghastly smile. 

Now 

(?) In ancient times among the Romans, when the public 
ministers of funeral obsequies set fire to the pile, they turned aside 
their faces, 

Triste ministerium! subjectam more parentum 
Aversi tenuere facem. 
Not so the Right Honourable Charles James Fox ! 

As Mr. Fox loves Greek, and reads Greek, (nugari solitus Graece) 
I will give my opinion of Mr. Fox's tongue and eloquence in that 
language. I shall then say of it; H Yxooaaoc itv^ b jco(t'[aos 
vns a,$iKix;> w vTtihwot, oXov ro coj^oc, <h (pKoyt^scct rov rpQ^oi* 

xocxov, (Ascrm m QGcvarrtfopv. If Mr. F. would attend to this 
iGreek author, he might learn the xgcXvi civocarpotpv), and the 
Trpocurn? crotpiocg. Even Mr. Fox may possibly read what I say. 

As Mr. Fox is now (June 1797) studying Mr. Gibbon's His- 
tory, he will find many an instructive lesson for his public 
conduct. Mr. Fcx, / know, cannot always construe Mr. G.'s 
English, and often consults his friends on the meaning of many 
passages and sentences ; but without much success. His friends 
can confirm what I say, if they-think proper.* 

I always 

*" * 

* Perhaps Mr. Fox may understand and construe the following 
sentence from the luminous Historian. " An aspiring candidate 
may be tempted to build his greatness on the public confusion, but 
it is the interest as well as the duty of the Sovereign to 
maintain the authority of the laws.'* Gibbon, vol. 7. p. %Q* 
ed. Svo* 

Aa*j 



[ 374 J 

Now, when beneath the dread fraternal (//) frown 

The 

I always feel an interest in Mr. Fox's studies, whether he is 
reading Gibbon, or culling simples on St. Ann's Hill with Aspasia, 
or poring on the Odyssey, in lamentation over his departed 
friends in the H. of C. in the old Bard's language, 

A.pvv[Asvos fiv rs 4' t/ %^ v Kal Nocttov E-ra/jpwv, 
AX\' 8&* 0$ Erapas sppycxro, Jg/xsvof irepA 
But his Erccipoi or friends are said to have left him only on one 
account ; his good humour and ability having never forsaken 
him. .The account is this, deep, short, and full : 

*' ElTSl "Tpcms; Upov WToXlsQpOV c7TSpO"£." ijl 

On this subject I would nc<w 9 § add a remark or two. I 
would remind Mr. Fox, on the subject 0/ Radical Reform, or any 
similar subject, that the Historian De Bello Civili has recorded 
this expression of Caius Gracchus ; AQpoous THN BOTAHN 
\Senatum) KxfrfipnKzi. The Historian proceeds to say, that when, 
the measures of Caius Gracchus had been tried, and had taken 
tffect, his words were found to be true. T« Vzpyz npohvTOi 

E2 I1EIPAN, [ASl^OVUS ETl gX(pflfV73V«i T<9 S7TQS TV Ff>«>C%8. • 

Ta % v re mpm ANE2TPA$0AI TO KPAT02 TH2 
IIOAITEIAS! !!(*) Are the words plain to this learned 

modern Grecian ? Does Mr. Fox understand ? 

Let me also add, that in after times the Trihune Vatinius con- 
ferred on Ccssar the government of Cisalpine Gaul\ and, what is 
singular enough, in the very same days Gabinius, a Consul of 
profligate character, assured the people^ " Errare Gives, si turn 

H Senatum 

t Od. L. 1. % Od. L. 1. v. 2. § March, 1798. 

(a) Appian, De Bello Civili, Lib. 1. p. 363* Edit. H. Steph- 
?59 2 > 



[ 375 1 
The harp revers'd grates discord on the Crown j 

When 

" Senatum aliquid in Republica'posse arbitrabantur."* See the 
great Chapter De Mutatis Mutandis, by the new Trium- 
virate in England. 

Mirantur taciti, et dubio PRO fulmine pendent ! (b) 

The further I. extend my researches, political or historical, 
the less do I find any thing which, in governments and states, 
and in the revolutions of governments, is absolutely new in 
kind, but in degree, new beyond comparison. But as to the 
objects of fear, caution, and apprehension, I see them more and 
more; the events of which will be new and terrible indeed to 
Great Britain, if we do not find mercy in this day of wrath, 
horror, and convulsion. Yet at the same time, 1 think I see 
our means of Defence increased, and the spirit, generosity, and 

resolution. 

» ■ — — — — ■ — -■'• ■ i— ■? 

* Cicero Orat. pro Sext. 12. 
{I) Stat. Theb. L. io — Sir R. Walpole spoke with spirit on 
the Secedcrsfrom Parliament in 1742. Mr. Coxe in his important 
and very valuable Memoirs and original diplomatic correspondence 
cf that Minister, observes thar, " The consequence of this mea- 
sure nvas to the Seceders disappointment and speedy repentance, to 
the Ministers satisfaction and triumph. They even flattered 
themselves with the hopes of being called back to their posts. 
They soon experienced the ill policy of their conduct. Tht 
nation nvas not inflamed by their conduct » y See and read the 
Memoirs of Sir R. Walpole, vol. 1. 4*0. p, 606 — Mr. Fox, 
who, as well as every other statesman, will certainly peruse this 
curious and instractive work, should remember a saying of Lord 
Bolingbroke, the enemy and opposer of Walpole ; '* History is 
philospphy teaching fy examples" (M arch J 798.) 

Aa-4 



I 37 6 ] 

Wjxen Transatlantic Emigrants can roam . 

But 

jpesohitioh of Our Great Nation raised and animated to act, 

V 

AS ONE MAN. 

If ever there was a time, when the Ministers of a Country 
iftiight feel an assurance within- themselves that the general 
Principles, on which they have acted, have been just and justi- 
fiable, and that they might throw themselves on the judgment of 
their Country ; in my opinion, it is the present hour. The 
state of Europe has pkovED the intentions of France from the 
first moment of her Revolution 5 and every historical document 
daily confirms the proof. Though I profess nb : personal predi- 
lection for Mr. Pitt, yet I join in the common gratitude for his 
firmness, unbending arid inflexible perseverance in -general prin- 
ciples, 'which, under Providence, may yet prove our salvation. 
Upon very serious and mature reflection, I feel a rooted ajTci 
unconquerable veneration for this great and transcendent 
character. 



lit te, fgrtissime Teucrum", 
Accipio agnoscoque lib ens ! ut "jerba Parentis, 
£t <vocem Anchts^e magni mentemqtie recordor ! (1798.) 

(//) I allude to the union or French Brotherhood in Ireland 
with their Book of Beath.—See the Reports of the Irish Par* 
liamentary Committee, and the memorable speech of the Rt. 
Hon. John Earl of Clare, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, in 
the H. of Lords on the 19th Feb. 1798, on the motion of the 
Earl of Moira. (Reprinted, Wright, Piccadilly.) The verbal 
variations of the editions of it are of little consequence. The 
whole of it should be read, as spoken by that eloquent, learned, 
well-informed, patriotic, and undaunted Statesman. (March 
^798.) a 



i 377 3 

But to return, and praise our (k) English home. 
Now when the French defend us (/) in disgrace, 
French swords, French fraud, French priests, and 

French grimace; 
When England changes arms — At such a view 
Must I find method^ verse, and patience too? 
My verse, the thunder of a Patriot's voice, 450 
Cries loud to all, who England make their choice, 
6C Throw wide that portal; let no Roman wait, 429 
" But march with Priestly through the dextral gate. [m\ 

OCTAVIUS. 



(k) See Mr. Cooper of Manchester's Account on his return 
from America, and the Letters of some wandering Journeyman 
Weaver or Carpenter, I forget which, &c. &c. Impudens liqui 
jpatrios Penates, &c. 

(/) I allude to the French Emigrant Regiments, enrolled m 
the British army. Surt;* this is a measure of government 
unwise, and unaccountable on any sound principle; a project of 
desperation, one would think. Is this a time for Englishmen to 
say, 

Mutemus clypeos, Danaumyue insignia 1 obis 

Aptemus. (July 1797.) 

[m) ** Through the dextral gate !°— My allusion is this. In 
ancient times, the most frequented roads to the city of Rome had 
double gates. They who came into the (ity passed through the 

left.hjnji; 



[ 378 ] 

OCTAVIUS. 

Talk thus, e'en Horsley shall applaud : proceed. 

AUTHOR, 

The tears that Britain sheds, her wounds that bleed, 
Call for a fost'ring hand, the balm of Peace ; 
Not stj'ptics, which the sanguine tide increase ; 

Such 



left-hand gate ; and they who went out op the city took the 
right-hand gate. See Nardini Roma Antica, L. jo. c. 9. Pliny, 
in his Natural History, in the Chapter de Roma, Lib. 3. c. 5. 
speaking of the gates of the city, says, " that twelve of the 
*' thirty-seven gates should only be numbered once, (Semel nume^ 
€t rari)." The expression is odd, but it alludes to such of 
those gates as were double in this sense. This was not unknown 
in other Italian cities. The Porta de* Borsari at Verona (in the 
opinion of the Marquese Scipio Maffei, Verona lllustrata, 
Fart 3.) was in reality a twin or double gate, though it has been 
mistaken by some antiquaries for an arch of triumph. 

In times like the present, I would never shut those double gates 
in any city, when the turbulent, discontented, and factious wish 
to retire into foreign parts. We all remember, that Sir Arthur 
Hazelrig, John Hampden, and Oliver Cromwell, being ready to 
tail for Amerha % were stopped by order of Council! Hume's 

word? 



[ 379 ] 

Such as State-quacks, or Barristers expose 
For fame and sale, and sleeping might disclose. 
In state affairs all Barristers are vain, (mm) 460 

And Erskine nods, the opium (n) in his brain. 

Saw'st 

words are very strong and remarkable in this lecturing age. 
t' They (i. e. Hampden, Hazelrig, and Cromwell) had resolved 
for ever to abandon their native country, and fly to the other 
extremity of the globe, where they might enjoy lectures and 
discourses of any length or form that pleased them." Mr* 
Hume adds, very significantly, " The King had afterwards full 
leisure to repent this exercise of his authority." Hume's Hist, 
vol.6, p. 311. Ed. 8vo. 1773. 

(mm) This must be understood with an exception or two. 
*' We all remember, when Thurlow and Wedderburn* 
{now the Lords Thurlow and Loughborough) were first called 
into Parliament, how soon they proved what manner of men. 
they were. They separated the Lawyer from the Statesman, 
It was a proud day for the Bar at that period ; for never before 
that day, were such irresistible, overbearing powers and talents 
displayed by the official defenders of a Minister: 
Hos mirabantur Athenae 
Torrentes, pleni et moderantes fraena theatri ! 

Lord North indeed, when he appointed Thurlow and Wed- 
fderburne bjs Attorney and Sollicitor General, meant no more than 
to give spirit, eloquence, and argument to his measures ; but in 
effect, he hung a mill-stone on the necks of all their successors," 
Pref. Epistle to the Transl. of the P. of L. p. 26. 

(?) Erskine ? -rMr ? Barrister Ersjdne is celebrated for taking 
ppium in great quantities, (I have often heard him speak in 

prais,e 



C 3S0 ] 

Saw'st thou, (or did my troubled fancy dream?) 

High. 

praise of it) and if he proceeds in this manner, it is apprehended 
that his political faculties will die of too large a dose, of which 
there are many symptoms already. I would be clearly under- 
stood, that all my observations are confined to his political con- 
duct and career. They are not extended to his professional 
character^ which is great, or to his private life, which no man i$ 
inclined to respect more than myself : but his political doctrines; 
are plunging and dangerous. Mr. Erskine has informed the 
public, that ke has not the talents of a statesman, which, in com- 
mon with the kingdom at large, I readily admit as part of my 
political creed ; though it is so very plain, as hardly to be an 
article of faith. 

In his late flimsy and puerile ** View of the Causes and 
Consequences of the present French War," he comes forth 
to the public puxAss g-oQkttixco; -a.oci (ro^ocpus, to use an ex- 
pression from Themistius ; but I cannot stile him in the 
words of that orator, before the Emperor Constantius, as 
Atl><£« (Aoipocs Quasi y.zrz%ov 9 'Zuov xpavtov, s>i^9cv £o9sv rots 
«r*$s zis £7n//,sXsiav. (*) I positively will not translate this 
Greek, either for the Barrister himself, or the country members, 
or the electors of the town of Portsmouth; but I shall leave it, 
to be rendered faithfully by the Rev. Dr. Parr, or Mr. Erskine's^ 
language master. Indeed in this age we require nothing but 
what we call, eloquence; though the term is miserably abused. 
But such as it is, eloquence in the political world is like charity 
in the Christian character; without it a man is counted dead. 

In ancient times however, in one particular there was a 
great and essential difference from the present. Perhaps it may 
not be without use to hint, and to remind some persons, that in 

Greece 

(a) Themist. Orat. p. 3* Ed. fol. Harduim, 1684* 



[ 38i ] 

High o'er yon cliff, in majesty supreme, 

Vengeance 



Greece and Athens, u apud Greciam, (in the opinion and 
triumphant language of Cicero,*) qua? semper elo^uenti^e 
princeps esse voluit, atque illas omnium doctrinarum 
inventrices Athenas, in quibus summa dicendi vis et inventa 
est et perfecta ;" in Greece and Athens, I say, Orators 
and Barristers were never permitted to make any epilogus or 
peroration whatsoever in the courts of law, or in the senate. 
Epilogos illi mos civitatis abstulerat, says Quintiliant; 
and from whom? from Demosthenes. On which passage 
the learned Turnebus observes, " Non licebat Athenis affectum 
movere, ac ne Epilogo quidem uti ;" and yet Demosthenes 
.appeared under this restriction. What does Mr. Erskine think ? 
Has he ever read the Pleadings for the Crown, or against 
Midias, or H.ept TIospoLTrpEaGsias ? § 

Mr. Erskine always appears to me below his natural size, 
when he speaks in the House of Commons : I have too often. 

disliked 

■ ■i * m mw wi ' i > ' ■ "»» ■ i ii<ii 'W. i r ■ » n..» ..— wmmm »ww i iwiw l |i.)j....,,.ii.^ . jii" i ■ — 

* De Orat. L. i. f Quint. L. 10, c. i 

§ Mr. Erskine, if he ever read this last oration, fmay perhaps 
recollect the allusion to the Wafer-Clock, by which the length 
of public speeches was, regulated.' Ova' eyx si /xera ■raufl' vScop 
vSet; ,sfMi. The use of this Clepsydra is proved from various 
authorities by the learned Sigonius, concerning the customs of 
the Athenians^ ■ lam told ic is in contemplation to have Clep- 
sydra or Water-Clocks in either House of Parliament, and in 
all the Courts of Law at Westminster. What an useful inven- 
tion for the Public ! Such a custom might be safely adopted 
even from a tyrannical democracy ; and we should never forger, 
that iud was. the Constitution of Athens. * 



C 3S2 ] 

Vengeance his attributej (and> as he trod, 



The 



disliked his manner and his matter. In WestmiRSter Hal! 
he is without an equal : he has no rival in the eloquence 
adapted to the Bar and a Jury. But as he confesses himself no 
Statesman, he should have spoken with more modesty and 
deference on political subjects to those, who are confessedly 
great statesmen in the esteem of the country. I will leave in 
Mr. Erskine's ear the words which Demosthenes thundered 
against Androtion. It cannot however be supposed for a moment, 
that I can mean to compare a gentleman of genius and distinc- 
tion like Mr. Erskine, with such a being as Androtion. I only- 
give the words, and Dr. Parr may translate them if he pleases, 
Et coi^paito^uv n TtoXi?, aXka. f^n tojv upyjciv srspcov a|»8vnvv, 
&>//.oXoysjTO Bivociy ax av, co Av^pss AQwutoi, roc; u£psi$ Y^y^aQs. 
iras T«T8, a.s xolto. T-yjv ayopav vQpiQzv, Qooov sv rati; exx\y}gixk; 9 
S7ri t» C-WjU-aros - , ctaXttf xou ex ShKcov xoikcov ekuth QeXtius, koli sjc 
' SeXtiovm ** 

In conclusion, I recommend to all persons who have an itch 
for writing or speaking, in public or private, from Mr. Bar- 
lister Erskine down to Mr. Dent and his dogs, to study with 
care the following passage from Lord Shaftesbury, in his 
Aclvice to an Author, The words are these ; " Where the 
liarm would be of spending some discourse, and bestowing 
a little breath and clear voice purely upon ourselves, I cannot 
see. We might peradventure be less noisy and more profit- 
able in company, if at convenient times we discharge some 
of our articulate sound, and spoke to ottrsehes viva voce, when 

alone?* 

* Demosth. Orat, K#t& Avfyorwyof. Gr. Ed. BenenafL 
1570. page 298. 






I 383 ] 

The conscious waves roll'd back!) the passing God, 
That shook old Ocean's empire ? from beneath 
Strange threatening notes in hollow murmurs breathe, 
Hoarse through the deafen'd shrouds ! But Irush'd 

the blast, 
The Trident is confirm*!) : the dream is past. (0) 

Oh 



alone. 9 * Advice to an Author, Sect, 1. This anticipating 
remedy of Soliloquy the noble adviser prescribes against the 
disease, called The Leprosy of Eloojjence, which is 
now a British Epidemic. Mr. Erskine, as I have been informed, 
has been under a regimen for a long time to no effect, and 
a Committee of Physicians and Surgeons (appointed by the 
House) who have examined Mr. Erskine's case, and the state 
of his blood, have reported it as their opinion, that this Le- 
prosy of Eloquence, with which he is infected, is like the 
Leprosy of Naaman the Syrian, that it will cleave to him for 
ever, except he rigidly adheres to Lord Shaftesbury's anticipating 
remedy of soliloquy, and abstains from speaking in all places 
but in the Court of King's Bench. — Ilia sejactet in aula JEolvs I 
(July 1797.) 

(0) 'These lines were written and inserted here at the latter end 
of the month of May, 1797. 

Proh dolor ! Imperium Pelagi, s^evumqxje Tridentem 
Cui nunc sorte datum ? 

A patriotic poet may be, I hope, in this instance prophetical 2 
* The dream is past." Behold the confirmation by Admiral 

Viscount 



r 384 ] 

Ob, strong against ourselves, and rashly bold ! 47® 
No voice, as in the Hebrew fane of old, 
From Britain's center to her utmost bounds, 
From parting (fi) angels in sad accent sounds : 

Paine 

Viscount Duncan, Earl St. Vincent, and Earl Howe, the great 
Naval Triumvirs. I trust we shall never again say, 

Eunt tUtis TERR ARUM CRIMiNA *velh ! 

Ex quo Jura Freti, majestatemque repostam 

Rupit Iasonia.P#///j P^gw^rapinal [a) (Nov. 1797.) 

I 
{p) I trust that Great Britain is yet firm, and that the guar* 
dians of her laws and constitution will stand bold, undaunted, 
and with deliberate valour. My allusion in the verse is 
this. After the profanation of the temple at Jerusalem, 
under the Roman Emperor Titus, we read (it is recorded by 
their own Historian) that the voices of guardian angels were 
heard at the dead of night, crying out through it's inmost 
recesses, Mera£#iv<w/xev ILvteuQev 9 '* Let us depart hence!" See 
the seventh book of the Jewish War, by Josephus. {b) I re- 
commend the perusal of the whole of that wonderful section, (c) 

The Historian, in some parts of it, is scarcely inferior in spirit, 
language, and sublimity, to TEschylus himself. Surely at this 
most awful hour when, I am almost tempted to say, the moral 
and the natural world seem to be breaking up together, when the 
- most powerful European states, and populous cities have been 
convulsed or overthrown, can we hear, without secret emotion 

and 

„, , , I i, , , .. JL ' j", 1 ' . ■ I "' — ' ■•■"J"! —•.: " ■ ' "■■»'- ■- ■ » ■ * — " -^ 

{a) Statius, Aehill. L. 1. (£) Joseph, p. 1280 Edit. Huds. Oxpn, 
(0 L. 7, Cap. 5. 



[ 385 i 

fciine may blaspheme, Tone, Tooke, and Thelwall 

mourn, 
Our Ark (q) is still by hallowed hands upborne ! 

I too 

and without a kindred horror, what the Historian calls, tlie 
P<ypc.«i>c&;v ra.yfj.oc.rojv oCKoCKayy.os au[j.,(p£po[jLEYcov, the ruv 
Urournxaroov vrvpi y.xi ciSnpaj kexvxXcoiasvwv xpocuyn ? Can we 
read unmoved, Ovrs faunas yv e\eos, st' svrpoTryj cts/xvottjtos" \ • 
Ai/xco [AxpocivofXEVoi xai fAEfAuxorsi; sis obvpiAHs ytai xpoovyw 
zvrovwGzv. Zwmxpi y\rz Uztpotia, xxi roc 7rspi% opw ' Gapurspav 
woiHvra, mv opunv. Ta Qopu£n roc. TIocQyi (po^spcorspoc ! ktX.— 
I will make no apology for presenting the learned reader with 
this passage, as Longinus would say, Ovrco fxEyaXot 01 Xoyoi 9 
Koa E[/,£pt9sis oa svvoisci' oXov aco(j.xriQv opa^oorix-ov xoti Evaywviov** 
I expect his thanks and not his censure, if he is worthy to 
read it. 

{q). The Abbe Barruel hsis done a public service to Europe* 
by his eloquent and perspicuous delineation of the History of 
Jacobinism, in his work intitled " Memoires pour servir a V htstoire 
i( du Jacobinisme" I by no means subscribe to all the Abbe's 
opinions and particular doctrines, or to his whims and fancies; 
but in the disposition of the whole work, I perceive the hand 
of a master. He has discovered, and traced from the very- 
source, the original Cabal and it's impious infamous leaders ; 
and he has laid down their scheme, and disposed the proofs 
from their own authentic writings and works* in a convincing, 
orderly, and logical arrangement. It is the best historical and 
critical commentary extant, (except the events themselves) on, 
Mr, Burke's first work, called u Reflections on the Revolution 

#■ Longin, Sect. 9. de Sublim* 



C 386 ] 

I too will call, loud through the gathering stormy 

Godwin 

in France. 5 ' 1796. It is worthy to be read by all who arc 
interested in the great cause of God and man, and I hope it will 
fce read and studied. 

Finis et JEtas __ 

Vota retro; serje volumus decus adbere morti! ' 

It is for such paramount reasons, that the Legislature and all 
the Magistrates of Great Britain are loudly called upon to contrail 
(while they yet can controll with effect) by the law, and by the 
law alone, such works as those by Thomas Paine, and all the 
spawn of lewdness, infidelity, and democracy, in their vigour, 
or in their dotage. They are called upon to repress bylaw such 
popular works or novels as the Monk, by M. Lewis Esq. M. P. 
which I have stated * amply, and, as I think, have proved, to be 
indecent and blasphemous ; and to watch over the proceedings 
of Dr. Geddes,f the new Translator of the Bible. 

The plain questions are these ; " Are we to be preserved ? 
and, " Can we be preserved?'* 

The French Revolution is new matter of history, I mean of 
history speaking in every language of every nation of Europe. 
One establishment upholds another ; and the fall of any one draws 
after it a long ruin. Read the Memoires of the Abbe Baruel, 
and doubt, if you can, whether Literature has power to kill, 
and to make alive. Atheist Statesmen always cO-operate with 
Atheist Philosophers, but are generally duped by them. " Us 
prennent leurs ordres " sans lc savoir," said D'Alembert in 
the plenitude of his impudence. 

The grand triple Conspiracy and crushing Cabal, under all it's 
horrid formularies, against religion* regal power, and social 

order 
* Preface to Dial. IV. of the P. of L. 

f lb. Pref. to PiaJ, IV, 



r 387 ] 

Godwin (r) and Volney, (s) Ruin and Reforms 



The 



Gfder under moral restraint, has shewn what is the force and 
potency of Literature, stimulated and conducted by an 
exterminating philosophy. Let England beware and look 

TO HERSELF ! * 

" Me veterum freqiiens 
Memphis pyramidum docet; 
Me pressae tumulo lacryma gloiiae ! 

Me projects jacentium 
Passim per populos busta Quiritium s 

Fumantumque cadavera 
Regnorum tacito, Rufe, silentio 
Maestuih multa monenc!" 
(>) Godwin. — •* Ecce iterum Crispinus!" and I wish I 
jieed not proceed with the line, " Et est mihi saepe vocandus 
u in partes: Monstrum nulla virtute redemptum. ,, — In my* 
note in Dialogue the iThird of the P. of L. I thought I had taken 
leave of William Godwin ; but he has again obtruded himself 
upon the public. As one of the public, I shall give a few 
remarks on his late book, called " The Enquirer, or Reflections 
" on Education, Manners, and Literature, in a series of Essays,** 
Of his Enquiry concerning Political Justice, the author indeed 
differs in opinion from me. He declares, in his Preface to his 
Enquirer, that «' An Enquiry thus pursued on Political Justice, 
(i.e. as he, William Godwin, has pursued it) is undoubtedly im 

the 

* See also " the Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Reli-- 
6t gions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the Secret 
* { Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, &c. &c. by J. Robison, 
•' A.M." A book of great importance and solemn -warning to 
this country, which should be perused with Abbe- Baruel's work, 
They reflect a powerful light on each. other » 

£ b % 



L 388 3 

The Sophists unabash'd yet rear their head, 

Theif 

the highest style oE ; man ! ! |' 1 But as I have given my 
opinion upon it in the Third Dialogue of the P. of L. I shall 
say nothing here. Yet I might add, as it is recorded of the 
infidel Boaster before Thebes, 

Si tardius artus 

Cessissent, poiuit fulmin meruisse secundum. * 
I shall take but a fenv chapters of his new book, for really I 
should fatigue myself and my reader past all sufferance, if I were 
to go through with it. The spirit and the manner is the same in 
all these Essays. " The present volume," (i. e. the Enquirer) 
he informs us, (Preface, p. 8 ) " is presented to the contemplative 
reader, not as dicta, but as the materials of thinking, 
and that they are committed to his mercy." He adds,. 
" that with as ardent a passion for innovation as ever, he, (i. e. 
William Godwin) feels himself more patient and tranquil." 
This is pleasant to himself certainly, but whether his opinions 
and their consequences will promote patience and tranquillity in 
other men, is all that we are concerned to know, and to expose. 
He professes to write a moral work : it is miscellaneous and 
unconnected, whatever he may think. 

I would premise, that there is a difference in considering a 
moral and a mere metaphysical Enquiry. In the latter, it is 
iust and necessary to take in all the parts of a system, to know 
it's efficacy and apparent truth ; but in amoral work there is not 
the same necessity, and for this plain reason. Mankind are 
guided in iheir actions, not by system, but by single impulses ; by 
detached maxims, by aphorisms, by sentences, which have fre* 
quently the force of whole volumes. Whatever impels to action 
singly and by itself, may be considered also apart, and held forth 
cither to approbation, or to censure. For this important reason 

I shall 
* Thebaid. L. io. 




I 389 3 

Their colours gaudy, though but idly (/) spread. 

Better 

I shall offer to the public notice some passages from '< The En* 
*' quirer, by William Godwin." The book perhaps has been 
read very little ; but as it is published and maybe read, lam 
sure it ought to be criticized, not from it's excellence, nor the 
ability of the writer, but from the subject matter. 

His first Chapter or Essay is, " Of awakening the Mind."** He 
begins with so 'very wise a sentence, that we are naturally prepared 
for much instruction. I have indeed been told, that Mr. Godwin's 
mother, like little Isaac's in Sheridan's Duenna, used to call 
him " Little Solomon." What is this sentence ? verbatim as 
follows: " If individuals were universally happy, the species 
would be happy !" Again. " When a child is born, one of 
the earliest purposes of his ihstitutor ought to be, to awaken 
his mind, to breathe a soul into the, as yet unformed, mass. 1 * 
Whether the mass is the mind) or the mind the mass, and at what 
time the soul is to be breathed into the mind, is not quite clear ; but 
it is very instructive. Mr. Godwin also thinks, that " it is not 
the absurdest of paradoxes to affirm, that the true ODject of 
juvenile education is to teach no one thing in particular ; but (the 
reader will be rather surprised) to provide, against the age of 
five-and-tnumty^ a mi»;d well regulated, active, and prepared to 
leam" It is to be remembered, that the general education of 
mankind is the object under consideration, 

If the reader's mind is not awakened by such an alarum of 
nonsense, I think he must be deeply intranced, as fast as a modern 
watchman, or Mr. Godwin himself, when he wrote the chapter. 

Next comes Essay 2. " On the Utility of Talents." From 
this we learn, in Mr. Godwin's own words, that "The only 
complete protection against the appellation of fool, is to he 

Bb 3 the 



[ 39° ] 

Better be dull than wicked ; from the heart 48a 

The 

the possessor of uncommon capacity jV and that " a self-sattsfied y 
half-witted fellow is the most ridiculous of ail things." This 
5s also 'very instructive, and lets us into the secret of Mr. Godwin's 
wits, and his self-satisfaction. But I cannot think Mr. G.'s 
instructions will " produce in his pupil or child (if he has 
either) one of the long-looked -for saviours of the human race." it 
might perhaps produce another Anacharsis Gloots, the Orator 
of the human race, t 

Then come '« The Sources of Genius,'* in Essay 3. The 
sentiments are either so trite, or so absurd, or so wicked, that it 
is difficult to choose. One of them I must select.-— Of the 
children of peasants, Mr. G. observes, '' That at the age of 
fourteen the very traces of understanding are obliterated. 
They are enlisted at the crimping house of oppression. They 
are hrutifed by immoderate and unremitting labour. Their 
hearts are hardened, and their spirits broken, by ail that they see, 
all that \\ity feel, and all that they look forward to. This js 

ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING POINTS OF VIEW, in which 

we consider the present order of Society! ! ! It is the gieat 
slaughter house of genius, and of mind. It is the unrelenting 
murderer of hope and gaiety, of the love of reflection, and of 
the love of life." p. 16. This it is, I suppose, as this atrocious 
but foolish writer would call it, to promote patienee and tranquillity 
among mankind ! Mr. G. has not yet done. Essay the 4th is 
on the same Sources. Here he proves too much for himself. 
He says, p. 19. il There is an insanity among Philosophers, 
that has brought Philosophy itself into discredit." 

At the close of the eighteenth century, Mr, G. speaking of 
the succession of events, and the manner in which we acquire 
#dea,s, delivers this sentence seriously and philosophically, with a 

view 



[ S9* ] 

The life-springs issue, and their force impart $ 

Better 

view to be instructive, as I suppose. < c If any man was to tell 
me that if I pull the trigger of my gun, a swift and beautiful 
horse will irrs mediately appear starting from the mouth of the 
tube; I can only answer, that I do not expect it, and that it 
is contrary to the tenor of my former experience. But I can 
assign no reason (!!!) why this is an event intrinsically more 
absurd, cr less likely to happen than the event I have been accus- 
tomed to witness. It may be familiarly illustrated to the 
unlearned reader, by remarking, that the process of generation, in, 
consequence of which men and horses are born, has obviously no 
more perceivable correspondence with that event, than it vuould have 
for me to pull the trigger of a gun !!!" I pass by the gross indecency 
of the illustration, that I may just hint, what it is to be a modern, 
philosopher, and instruct the unlearned in the new way t 

I am ashamed to analyse any other opinions in this Essay ; bu£ 
as Mr. G. is supposed by some persons, to be " A man of talents,'* 
I suppose also Mr. G. has the properties of »* A man of talents," 
as he himself has declared them to be; and that '.* He (himself) 
can ^recollect up to' ivbat period he was jejune ; and up to ivhat 
period he was dull. He can call to mind the innumerable errors 
of speculation he has committed, that 'would almost disgrace an 
ideot." (p. 28.) For my own part, in the present instance, I 
have nothing to do with recollection. Mr. Godwin and his book 
are before me. So much for " A man of talents," 

I cannot oppress the reader with all his desolating, unfounded, 
and silly opinions on all trades, professions, and occupations, 
wholly subversive of the present order of society, and as I believe, 
of any snpposeable order whatsoever of any well r regulate4 
human society. 

But if the reader wishes to be amused with the acme or height 
pf absurdity and wildness, I earnestly recommend him to read 

B b 4 % Mr. 



[ 392 ] 
Better to write stark nonsense; better preach 

With 

Mr. G's account of « The Walk of a man of talents, (Mr. Godwin 
.himself, for instance,) and of a man without talents, (such as 
myself ) from Temple Bar to Hyde Park Corner.''' (p. 31 and 32.) 
It is really refreshing in the extreme. Nothing can be superior 
to it, but his " Gun of Generation," just described, and his 
self-tilling plough, without the intervention of man," in his 
other book on Political Justice, Vol. 2. p. 494. Ed. 8vo. 

I will give Mr. Godwin's onvn account of this famous Walk, 
especially as the public are accustomed to observe all kinds of 
rnen, and women too, betiveen^Tem/zle Bar and Hyde Park Corner. 
" The chief point of difference (says Mr. G.) between the man of 
talents and the. man without, consists in the different ways in 
which their minds are employed during ///? same interval!!'." 
This is the proposition, ludicrous and absurd enough of itself, 
but now let us hear the jiroof or illustration. " They, (i. e. the 
lf man of talents and the man ^without) are obliged, let us suppose, 
" to walk from Temple Bar to Hyde Park Corner. 

1. The Walk of a Man without talents, or of a Dull 

Man! 

u The dull man goes strait forward : he has so many fur*. 
** longs to traverse. He observes if he meets any of his acquaint- 
" ance ; he enquires respecting their health and their family. 
%i He glances perhaps at the shops as he passes; he admires the 
*' fashion of a buckle, and th.e metal of a tea urn. If he ex/ie- 
** riences any fights of fancy (i. e. between Temple Bar and Hyde 
" Park Coiner) they are of a short extent ; of the same nature 
*' as the fight of a forest bird clipped of his wings, and condemned 
" to pass the rest of his life in a farm-yard," 



[393 ] 
With silky (u) voice, and sacred flow'rs of speech, 

la 

2. The Walk of a Man of Talents 1 
t e On the other hand, the man of talents gives full scope 
•*' to his imagination. He laughs and cries. Unindebted to the 
*' suggestions of the surrounding objects, Ms whole soul is env* 
9* ployed!" 

We are now to prepare for the' employment of the whole soul of a 
man of talents from Temple Bar to Hyde Park Corner, and the 
Reader will observe that' he has enough to do. 

" He (the man of talents) enters into nice calculations ; he 
f l digests sagacious reasonings." 

(All this is done between Temple Bar and Hyde Park Corner.) 

?.• In imagination he declaims or describes, impressed with the 
?' deepest sympathy, or elevated to the loftiest rapture. He passes 
? 6 though a thousand imaginary scenes, tries his courage, tasks his 
" ingenuity, and thus becomes gradually prepared to meet almost any 
** of the many- coloured events of human life. He consults by the 
" aid of memory the books he has read, (N. B. a man of talents 
*' never reads in the streets,) and he projects others for the future* 
" instruction and delight of mankind." 

(I always said Mr. G. himself projected his book on Justice, 
and this on Education, in the streets ; Sic tu triviis, indocte solebas. ) 

41 ^*he observes the passengers, (the dull man only observe* 
$' his acquaintance) he reads their countenances, conjectures 
** their past history, and forms a su/ierficial notion of their 
? c wisdom and folly, their virtue or vice, satisfaction or 

V misery. If he observes the, scenes that occur, it is with the 
f eye of a connoisfeur or an artist." (The dull man above 
minds only buckles and tea urns ) " Every object is capable of 

V suggesting to him a Volume of Reflections" (Mr. G. must 
giean his own volume now before me, called Reflections on man- 
ners 



[ 394 I 

In %ok probation (x) for a Foundling's gown, 



To 



ners, education, and literature.) c< The time of these two persons 
** in one respect resembles ; it has brought them boih to Hyde Path 
V Corner. In almost every other respect it is dissimilar." 

Here is the denouement, or Et/pwa of Philosopher Godwin, 
and I have no doubt, he thinks it a discovery in Terra jam 
eognita, as he will allow the ground to be between Temple 
Bar and Hyde Park Corner. I cannot say the Parallel is quite 
in the manner of Plutarch j but it is very instructive. No man 
can ever be again at a loss to know a man of talents, from a man 
without, in the streets. I had often been puzzled, till I met with 
this instructive volume of Reflections. 

When the Reader has considered this, and all the other parts 
J have produced, and thousands which I have omitted, he will 
remember that Mr. Godwin has set himself up for a Legislator, 
a Reformer, a Philosopher, a destroyerof ancient prejudices, and 
a builder of new systems, a guide through the darkness of the 
world by this new light; and he expects the obeisance of 
mankind. I am sure, I cannot even conceive how any man or 
woman cculd be induced to worship before such an image 
of Democracy and Tyranny, whoever may sound the cornet, 
sackbut, or dulcimer at the dedication. It is not an image of 
gold ; it is an image of iron mixed with tniry clay. 

This it is to instruct the world, to reform it, to make it 
happy. Mr. G. comes in such a questionable shape, that I 
know not when to finish my questions I might go on chapter 
by chapter in this manner. Let any man look at his opinions, 
and the nature of his knowledge and his pretensions. J must 
copy two thirds (at the least) if I wished to express, and to 
expose, all that is reprehensible in this volume, or wicked, or 
ridiculous, or trite beyond belief. 1 would hold up Mr. G.'s 

own 



t 395 1 

To please some guardian Midas of the town, 



Who 



own propositions, in his own words, to all persons who have 
understanding, and let them judge for themselves. Let them 
fairly decide whether his impiety be not even less than his folly 
and the weakness of his understanding more visible than the 
plunging violence of his exertions. Dat operam, ut cum rations 
insaniat. 

Mr. Godwin is at best but a mongrel, or an exotic. He is 
grafted upon the stock of Condorcet, and the French rabble on 
French ground ; but he has not even the raciness of that teeming 
soil. English minds will not long bear the grossness of such an 
imposition ; for we are better and earlier taught,than he wishes we 
should be. Reason indeed disclaims Mr. Godwin ; of eloquence, 
and good writing, (in spite of all his dogmatism) he knows 
nothing; and of the Belles Lettres nearly as much as can be 
attained, or rather fiiched up y in a modern academy in some 
London Square, or at Islington. 

But for Mr. Godwin we are to lay down Plato and Xeno- 
phon ; for him we are to relinquish Aristotle and Tully; to 
him Locke is to give way, and the simplicity and tempered 
humour of Mr. Addison is to be lost in Mr. Godwin's effusions. 

I really am fatigued with this man. Nothing but the impor- 
tance of the consequences and effects of his wild, weak, wicked, 
and absurd notions, (I cannot dignify them with the name of 
principles, or cc^iooixzrx) could have prevailed upon me to have 
wasted irretrievably so much of my time upon them. 

From the period when Philosopher Hume first garbled his 
neglected " Treatise on Human Nature," and published it in 
the form of Essays, and set up a kind of slop-shop of morality in 
die suburbs of Atheism, we have had nothing but Essays upon 
Assays, till— we all know the consequence. And last of all comes 
l fhilosojiher 



t 396 3 

Who gives his vote from judgment and from taste*, 

Better 

£hhsophr GonvyiN, and sets up bis trumpery shop top in the 
same quarter; though he is willing to wait upon ladies and 
gentlemen at their own houses, with his " Gros paquet de toile 
nsrerte* 6*7 'rouge y" upon the principles and practice of the celebrate4 
Fripier in GiJ Bias, and with the same kind of justice. He 
presents you with his second-hand suits, with his u habits de 
€t draji tout unis^ and his " habits de velours un /ieu passes ;" de- 
mands his sot x ante ducats, and then addresses you with the same 
cool effrontery ; " Vous ctes hi en heureux qu on se soit addresse a 
* { M'Oi, Jilutot qu 1 a un autre. Graces au ciel, j l exerce rondement 
** ma profession: Je suis le seul Fripier qui ait de la 
*' morale.*" So much for Philosopher Godwin, or Le 
JPhilosophe Fripier, malgre sa morale I 

To the learned world in particular (if they have ever drudged 
through the works of Mr. Godwin as I have done) I will address 
a few words from the second book of the Pyrrhonic Institutions 
of Sextus Empiricus, as applicable to William Godwin, after 
all the observations 1 have made on his writings. 

Efcu&V. a TON AN©P«ftITON TOTTON htatpXw r* 
**». wv a&kw Zwwv, uou EIAIKPINH2 NOH2AI 

(j) Volney.— -See Dial. i t (note/) of the P. of L. for an 
account of Mr. Volney's book, entitled, u Ruins, or Medita- 
tion on the Revolution of Empires." 

(/) " Mocking the air with colours idly spread." 

Shakspeare's King Johti, 
I wisrjj 

* Green is the symbol of the Irish, and Red of French demo^ 
era tic factions. 

f Sexti Empyrici Inst. Fyrrhon. 1. a. c. 5^ 



[ 397 J 
Better with Warner move with measur'd haste, 



To 



I wish to refer the reader to an excellent, very seasonable, 
and important pamphlet called " Reform, or Ruin," by J, 
BowdJer Esq. which is well written. 

(a) All Doctors (and Bishops too) should remember it is one 
thing to preach, and another to print and publish their sermons. 
It is also high time for Bishop Horsely (qui au travers de tout 
sa piete n> est pas Auteur imfiunement • et qui a la satisfaction 
d* arracher les F'olufttueuses aux fiiaisits, * et J' affermir dans leur 
devoir des E/zomes ibranlees par des amans seducteurs ; though I 
cannot say, qu' on trouve ses homilies, et ses ouvrages xgMemml 
forts et delicats) it is high time I say, for my Lord Bishop 
Horsley to remember, that it was said of the Archbishop of 
Grenada, " V.oila un Sermon qui sent furieusement 1* Apo- 
plexies " I do not think that the Archevcque de Grenade, 
(I beg pardon) Bishop Horsley (for I think, he never "will he an 
Archbishop) will appoint me to be his Secretary, or in the inimit- 
able words of Le Sage, be desirous " avoir pres de lui un homrne 
(comme moi) qui ait de la literature, et une bonne main /tour met ire 
au net ses homelies.-\ ,t 

I may add, that if I should take a walk through the Bishop's 
Uterary grounds, I fear I should be found damage feasant ; and 
if I were to enter the premises at Rochester or Westminster, and 
be prosecuted for it, I should certainly direct my counsel to 
plead a special " Nil hahuit in tenementis," (See Lord Ray- 
mond's Rep. 15 50 ) For though his Lordship, as PlaintirF, is 

bus 

„ * See his Magdalen Homily^ and his speeches in the H. of L, 
in cases of Adultery. 

% Gil Bias, liv, 1, ch, 15. f lb. liv, 7. ch, 4.. &c. 



[ 39§ ] 

To lend new pleasure (y) to a pedant's ear* 

Appeal 

but an Assignee, he may take advantage of the estoppel^ for it run* 
•with the land. See Co. Lytt. 152. and Salic. 276. 

Truth, erudition, and ability, always fait in their effect, if 
their professors enforce them with violence, or asperity in the 
manner, or with imprudence in the choice of subjects, and iri 
the place of delivering them. 

(x) I allude to any popular preacher. It is really humiliating 
and degrading to the Clergy to preach probationary sermons, oil 
any vacancy of a chaplainship at any of the charitable founda- 
tions, before such a set of judges. One is for voice and action^ 
another for what he calls learning, others for the tender passions, 
some for appeals to reason, and others again love logic and 
close argument. No Divine can satisfy such judges, but such 
a Doctor, as is described by John of Salisbury, " Doctor sanc- 
'* tissimus ille Gregorius, qui melleo prtedicationis imhre totam 
** rigaroit et inebriavit Ecclesiam !" It is high time to put these 
affairs en a more respectable footing for the Clergy. 

I think indeed, that the business, elections, &c. belonging to 
all Hospitals, and all public charities, should be transacted by a 
Committee of the Subscribers, elected annually. A Committee 
composed of twenty-one persons would be sufficient, and the 
present mode of canvassing for offices might be suppressed, which is 
much to be desired. It might be easily carried into effect. The 
propriety of such a measure being generally adopted in London^ 
and near the metropolis, is evident; and I wish this hint may 
be attended to by men of sense and judgment. 

I 00 See a Treatise lately published, entitled " METPON 
API2TON, or a Nevj Pleasure^ recommended in a Dissertation 
on Greek and Latin Prosody, (1797-)'! I* iS without any 

permission, 



t 399 ] 

Appeal to Bryant, nor his judgment fear 2 

Setter to state-arithmetic be bred, 496 

Tell Jacobins and Tories by the (yy) head; 

Prove 



permission, and I think with considerable effrontery* dedicated 
to Mr. Bryant in a style perfectly new. If almost every page 
of this treatise were not sillier* wilder^ and more extravagant 
than the preceding, I might be tempted to take some notice of 
it's multifarious contents ; for they are very numerous indeed; 
They commence with the laws passed in King Priam's reign 
(I beg Mr. Bryant's pardon) under his marine Minister, 
when Troy was attacked and invaded by the Grecians, and 
are continued down to the present French war and the 
incomprehensible Cavalry Act, under George the Third of 
Great Britain. As it does not appear to me possible for this 
Author, (I use his own words in his own treatise) to " put of ths 
faonkey and bring aut the man" I shall say nothing further of 
this farrago of learned nonsense. (1797.) 

(yy\ Mr. Burke gave it as his opinion, in his " Two Letters 
on the Proposals for peace," (1796) that there are 400,000 
political citizens in Great Britain, of whom 80,000 are purs 
Jacobins, and the other four-fifths perfectly sound," &c. &c. 

In this particular instance I shall only s&y of this great and vene- 
rable man, what one of Dante's Commentators says on a passage 
in the Purgatorio; " Per verita, Sun gran ca/iriccio; ma in ckj> 
segue i 7 suo stile." Dante, Shakspeare, Miiton, and Burke> all 
abound in similar ca/tncciot ) but I will add Dr. Johnson's ad- 
mirable words; '* He that can put these (capriccios) in balance 
with their beauties, must be considered not as nice but dull, 
as less to be censured for want of candour, than pitied for 
want of sensibility,'* JUife of Milton, 



t 4°® J 
£rove that no dogs, as through the streets they range.,* 
Give bone for bone in regular (z) exchange; 
Or frame, with Marsh, (a) strange theorems to trf 
Some manuscript's divine identity; 

With 



(z) Etere is another little cdpriccib of a man of ho common 
sagacity, the late Adam Smith, He says seriously, by way of 
illustration; " No body ever saw a dog' make a fair and deli- 
" herate exchange of one bone for another with another dog.'* 
Smith's Wealth of Nations, Vol. i. p. 20. Ed. 8vo. This 
philosophy is nearly of the same date as Adam's ancestor* 
in Eden, and I can only say in reply, " Who ever expected 
" to see a dog do so ?" — We have all heard and read of that 
snarling sect the Cynics, and if we could convert dogs into 
philosophers, or what is harder still, philosophical propositions 
into meat and bones, (which I fear is more than most Sc&tch 
Professors can do) I should apply metaphorically the fol- 
lowing lines from a celebrated Poet, a great observer of humaii 
nature : 

" So when two dogs are fighting * in the streets, 
With a third dog one of the two dogs meets ; 
With angry tooth he bites him to the bone, 
And this dog smarts for what that dog has done." 



* In the most extensively learned book I ever saw, {for the size 
of it) and the best arranged, I mean the "Philosophia Generalis 
&c. per Theophilum Gale," there is actually a Chapter, " Dt 
Philosophia Adatni" L. I. C. I. s. 5. — A Cajiriccio ! 

* i. e. For a bone, or for any thing which is an object of 
fair and deliberate e xc hange. 



4 01 1 
With Hargrave to the Peers approach with awe, 
And sense and grammar sink in Yorke and law (b) $ 

Better 

{a) A learned and ingenious Critic, the Rev. Wm. Mars ft, 
(Translator of Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament, 
to which he has added many valuable notes and illustrations) 
published in the year 1795, " Letters to Archdeacon Travis, 
on the subject of a Greek Manuscript in the Public Library 
at Cambridge, printed at Leipzig, but sold in London by R. 
Marsh, Fleet-street." Mr. Marsh's theorem is so totally new, 
and so unparalleled, that I shall laugh hereafter at any man 
who tells me, that the chances for or against any thing are only 
100,000 to 1. 

" General Theor em , by which the identity of Manuscripts is 
determined, from a coincidence in their Readings/' (Letters, 
p. 7o.)~I omit it in this edition of my Poem, as the theorem 
is judged to Be too long and uninteresting. 

(h) See lately published, " The Jurisdiction of the Lords 
House of Parliament, by Sir Matthew Hale," and an intro- 
ductory preface by F. Hargrave, Esq. the Editor. 1796. Mr. 
Hargrave is universally acknowledged to be one of the soundest 
and most learned lawyers in the kingdom. But when he will 
step out of his way, and turn rhetorician, and fancy that he is 
writing like Cicero deOratore, there is some difference between 
the Roman, and the English advocate. 

Mr. Hargrave, in his preface, thus writes concerning the Rt. 
Hon. Charles Yorke, the short lived and lamented Chancellor: 
"He was a modern constellation of English jurisprudence, whose 
digressions/row the exuberance of the best juridical knowledge were 
illuminations; whose energies were oracles; whose constancy 

C c of 



[ 40- ] 
Better be White though dubious (c) of my fame. 
Or wisely sink my own in (d) Homer's name; 

Better 






of mind was <won into the pinnacle of our English forum at ail 
inauspicious moment ; whose exquisiteness of sensibility, at almost 
the next moment from the impressions of imputed error, stormed the 
fort of even Jus highly-cultivated reason, and so made elevation 
and extinction contemporaneous ; and whose prematureness of fate 
—has caused an almost insuppliable interstice in the science of English 
equity" Pref. p. 181. I really think Mr. Hargrave has dived 
through all the celebrated ten fountains of invention, from 
which " * he has taken in water for a happy voyage over the 
procellose ocean of his funeral parentat ion" of Charles Yorke. 

I pretend not to comprehend this passage in ail its sublimity 
but upon one principle which, as it appears to me, is the grand, 
though secret, design of Mr. Hargrave to leave upon record to his 
brethren: It is this t "That a lawyer, who writes so 

* 4 CLEARLY AS TO BE UNDERSTOOD, IS AN AVOWED ENEMY 
*' TO HIS PROFESSION." 

if) See the learned and very ingenious (but rather declama- 
tory) Sermons by Professor White of Oxford, at the Bampton 
Lecture. But in this, as in many other cases, it seems, •* Garth 
"did not write his own dispensary."-— I always thought the 
charge ridiculous; yet Jearned men would " write about it and 
about it." Any thing will serve for a controversy. Enquire 
of Messrs. Ireland, Malone, and Chalmers, at the Shakspeart 
Manufactory in Norfolk-street, in the Strand. (1797.) 

{d) The Rev. Dr. Parr will best explain this verse. See 
"his sublime Apostrophe, " Spirit of Henry Homer! &c. &c. &c. 
Letter to Dr. Coombe, by an occasional Writer in the British 
Critic. 

* Hist, of Friar Gerund, Vol. 2. p. 265. 






t 403 ] 

Better to disappoint the public hope, 500 

Like Warton driveling (e) on the page of Pope ; (/) 

While 

(e) The Booksellers may say in Sir Philip Sidney's words: 
< l What fools were, we to mingle such driveling speeches among 
" (Warburton's) noble thoughts 1 (Sir P. S's Arcadia.") 

Pan etiam Arcadia dicat se judice vietum. 
The typographical errors in Latin, Greek, and English in this 
edition are numerous beyond all belief; so numerous as to be 
very inconvenient to the reader^ 

The reason why I have, in the following passages, examined 
the edition so particularly, is this. There is no Author in our 
language, whose works admit of such important illustration, 
moral, religious, critical, and argumentative, as Mr. Pope's. 
This opportunity has been now unfortunately lost ; and it must 
be seen that our great poet has been disgraced, and a fond 
admiring Nation is left to lament the negligence,inattention, and 
impropriety, (I use the mildest terms) with which this work has 
been performed, except in the critical part of Dr. W's notes, 
which I generally approve. I have proved this in the following; 
remarks; and I have given the most cogent reasons. 

My sole object is the good of the kingdom, which I will strive 
to support systematically, whoever or. whatever may stanb 
IN the way. " Hoc illis dico, qui me non intelligunt." 

(f) See the new edition of Pope's Works by the Rev. Dr: 
Joseph Warton, late Head-master of Winchester School- 
The mildest words I can use are, " Tantamne rem tarn negli* 
** genter?" I praised (and liberally enough as some people 
tjiought) Dr. Joseph Warton's Common Place Book on Pope 

C c 3 i% 



I 404 ] 
While o'er the ground, that Warburton once trod* 

The Wintcn Pedant shakes his little rod : 

Content 

in the First Dial, of the P. of L. and I still think it very enter- 
taining and instructive. 

But when a learned man appears, as the professed Editor of 
the most distinguished and the most interesting Poet of the 
nation, and when the public have been taught to expect the 
work as of great promise, we require something more than 
mere copying his oivn old common place remarks from one book, 
to pat them in the form of notes at the bottom of the pages of 
another. It is mere book-making beneath the character of so 
learned a gentleman as Doctor Warton ; it is to steal from one's 
own self. Yet the town is patient ; " Marcus dixit ita est ;** 
but I will not say so. Had this been done merely by the Book- 
sellers, or by the whole worshipful Company of Stationers, 
it would have remained without notice from me. It would 
have been an edition made with a .pair of ' Scissors t nothing more. 
But at the end of the Advertisement to this edition 1 find 
these words ^ " For the rest of the notes (except those by Mr. Pope 
and Dr. Warburton) I am answerable* Joseph Warton." 

When the illustrious friend of Pope, William War- 
burton, (sublime even in his exorbitances, and dignified in 
sagacity and erudition,) condescended to become an Editor, I 
should have preferred reprinting his edition as it stood. Bur, 
in some particulars, I am indeed ashamed of the present edition, 
as it is now offered to the public. If Dr. Warton had neither 
time, nor spirits, nor industry, nor leisure, nor inclination, he 
should not have undertaken a wort so important to the world. But 
as there is no other new edition to be had of an elegant form, 
type, and paper, (and this is v^ry pretty) many persons will 
desire to have it, and I am sure I will, not refuse it a place 'ft 
my library. 






F 405 3 

Content his own stale scraps to steal or glean, 
Hashed up and season'd with an old man's spleen ; (ff) 
Nor e'en the Bard's deformity can 'scape, 
" His pictur'd person and his libei'd (g) shape;" 



(ff) See Dr. Warton's personal notes on Pope and Warburton 
passim throughout the work, splenetic in the extreme. 

(g) Poets are often prophets. Pope little thought that, fifty 
years after his death, a learned Editor would revive some imputed 
trashy (perhaps) not his oivn, and actually give to the malignant 
curiosity of some folks, *' His libelled person and his pictured 
" shape," (Prol. to Pope's Satires, v. 353.) It is strange that 
Mr. Gibbon and Mr. Pope should have the same fate. The 
figure of Mr. G. has been presented to the world and to pos- 
terity by his friend Lord Sheffield (See Mr« G's posthumous 
Miscellanies, 4*0 Vol. 1.) and Mr. Pope's contemptible appear- 
ance by the kindness of his editor, 

I have many and great objections to this edition; but' I 
shall only state a few. An edition of Pope is a fair and a very 
proper subject of criticism. I think the title page contemptuous; 
*' With notes and illustrations by J. War ton, D.D. and others" 
To include Wl.Lj,iiVM Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester 
and Author of the Divine Legation, under the title of others^ 
required an assurance equal at least to the dilettante spirit which 
too frequently prevails in Dr. Warton's comments. In this 
instance, as he says of the great Samuel Johnson, " temulentus 
" videtur." 

Mr. Pope himself said to Dr. Warburton, " No hand can 
mi my works in so good a light, or so well turn thejr best side 

C c 3 to 



[ 4o6 ] 

Ah, better to unlearn'd oblivion hurPd, 

Then 

to the day, as your own" Upon which Dr. Warton remarks 3 
" Without incurring, I hope, the censure of being a short- * 
sighted and malevolent critic, I venture to say, that our 
Author's fond expectation cf his C mmentatcr's setting his 
works in the best light, was extremely ill-founded."* I believe 
Mr. Pope will be found the best judge of his own interest, 
Dr. Warton may remember these lines ; 

(i Critics I saw that other names deface. 
And fix their own, with labour, in their place; 
Their own, like orhers, soon their place resign'd, 
Or disappear d, and left the first behind." 

Such was the inscription in a Temple, from which it will be 
difficult to erase the name of William Warburton, and substi* 
tute the name of Joseph W 7 arton. I have no personal partiality 
for Warburton ; he was long before my time ; nor have I the 
honour (^uch I should indeed esteem it) of an acquaintance 
with Bishop Hurd, his yenerable friend and compeer. But I 
was born to admire erudkionand genius, and to vindicate them 
when they are insulted. 

Dr. Warton's life of Pope is not well written as to the matter, 
or the manner of it. The style is defective and often vulgar: 
I shall instance a passage or two. The perpetual vulgarism of 
the term " our author."-—" Dennis pursued our author in bitter 
** invectives, against every work he gradually published." p. 18, 
tl After arriving at eminence by so many capital compositions, 
*' our author," &c. &c. p. 24. " Which, as an uncommon 
4C curiosity, one would have been glad to have beheld " p. n. 
'£• Dr. Warburton's defence of the Essay on Man ultimately 

* Pope, Warton's Edit. Vol. 9. p. 377. 






C 407 } 

Then give to Perry (k) what I owe the world ; 



And 



" got him a wife and a bishopric," p. 45. <c Into what a mass 
*' has he raised and expanded so slight a hint P* p. 21. Dr. W. 
is fond of " delicious lines, and delicious passages," &c. I can- 
not specify more of them in this note. 

He commends Voltaire too often, and too much, He is also 
perpetually praising ihe German Professor Heyne, who has 
grossly insulted our English Universities and public schools in 
his writings. Yet we f good easy men, have republished his Virgil, 
and ail his ponderous dissertations. Professor Heyne was origi- 
nally a mechanic : he was not born with taste, and he never ac- 
quired elegance. His learning is without discernment ; for more 
embodied dulness, or a heavier mass of matter than his Virgil 
I never saw. The shrine of the Poet is indeed loaded with 
offerings, but it is illuminated with rays from Gottingen. 

It was very bold and very indecent in the Reverend Dr.' 
Warton, to publish Pope's Imitation of the Second Satire of the 
iirst Book of Horace. Pope never * printed it in his works 
himself; Dr. Warburton refused to admit it; no common 
edition whatsoever of Pope has admitted it 5 and it is printed 
only in a vulgar appendix in two volumes. But if Mr. Pope had 
actually described every nymph in the seraglio of " the pious 
«' Needham," must the Reverend Dr. Warton publish such a 

poetn 

* Dr. W. indeed says, vol. 1. Life p. 56. " Pope suffered his 
<£ friend Dodsley to print it as his writing in one edition 12010." 
I never saw it, but I can believe the Doctpr, Pope was 
undoubtedly ashamed of it. 

C c 4 



[ 4 o8 ] 

And idly busy in my choice perplext, 510 

Throw 



poem, merely because Mr. Pope had written it? — This sixth 
volume of Dr. Warton's edition should be reprinted ; and this 
scandalous poem, and some other parts of it, omitted. 

With the Commentators * on Shakspeare, Pope, &c. of 
modern days, there is no such thing as an invocation to Intetmissa 
Venus ; for the Goddess has actually deserted her beloved 
Cyprus, In hos tot a mens* (See Horace for the rest.) 

" Te, Venus Regina, pio vocantum 
'* Thure Wartoni et Stephani decoras 
** Transfer in aedes. 

I have indeed no doubt the poem is by Pope ; and as to mere 
wit, and point in the imitation, it is perhaps the best. But what 
then ? Mr. Pope's works are distinguished for peculiar c<u> 
rectness in taste and morals; and are intended for the most 
general, and the most unqualified perusal. D. W, might as well 
have printed Mr, E's Geranium in his comments, or any other 
light and vigorous sally of a very young man, forgiven as such 
and forgotten, as the following lines, if the reader will believe, 
they are printed in Pope's Works. 

" Or when a tight neat girl will serve the turn, 
" In errant pride continue * * * ! 
M I'm a plain man, whose maxim is profest, 
" The thing at hand is of all things the best." 

Vol. 6. p, 51.— see also p. 49. worse still. 

I, though an anonymous layman, refuse to print the passage 

' in full which the Reverend Doctor Warton has printed and 

sanctioned with his name as Editor of Pope's Works, " Nobis 

* See The P. of L. Dial, 1; 



[ 409 ] 

Throw years of labour on a single text, 

(Alike 

non licet esse tarn disertis, qui musas colimus severiores." Jf 
Mr. Pope had often written thus, his works must have been 
consigned to the library of a brothel. This edition of Pope!s 
works will be sent into every part of the civilized world ; and 
can it be said, that I speak without reason ? Surely I am net 
pleading for public decency in vain. 

The Doctor at least should have dedicated this sixth volume 
to the Ladies — of the Commons. To what other ladies could he 
present this volume ? Yet so it is: " Doctors rush in, where 
laymen fear to tread." But because Pope called this, " Sober 
advice from Horace," the Doctor thought there could be no 
harm in it. Dr. W. observes, that " the first step in the literary 
^ as well as in the political world is of the utmost conse- 
u quence." * I would remind the Doctor of the last step in 
ioth these worlds, which he seems to have forgotten. 

I think the political principles in the notes are frequently false, 
and in many instances dangerous. I cannot copy whole notes; 
but I wish any sensible man would refer to the passages and 
examine them. It they are right x in such a world as this and 
in such a state of society as the present, I will give up the whole 
of my objections. Dr. W. tells us from Sir Thomas Browne, 
fl That there is ft certain list of vices committed in all ages, and 
declaimed against by all authors, which will last as long as 
human nature, or digested into common places, may serve for 
any theme, and never be out cf date till doomsday." (Vol. 4. 
p. 318.) Instead of a spirited vindication of moral satire, Dr. 
W. laughs at the effects of it, and very unadvisedly seems to 
discourage even the endeavours after a reformation of manners, 
\f I am asked how ? I answer thus. 

Dr. 
J Pope's Life, p, 14, 



[ 4io ] 

(Alike to me, encas'd in Grecian bronze, 

Koran 

Dr. Wa'rton tells us, from a certain JVit, " Mount in the 
pulpit with Bourdaloue, or take the pen with La Bruyere, it is 
only so much time lost ; the world will go on as before.' 5 The 
morality of Voltaire cannot surely be the morality of Dr. 
Warton. He lastly informs us, that Pope, in those Dialogues, 
** exhibits many and strong marks of petulance, party spirit^ 
and self importance, and of assuming to himself the character 
of Censor-genera!." (vol. 4. p. 345.) As if in answer to this 
unjust and outrageous character, with a singular anticipating 
sagacity, Pope seems himself to have replied to the Doctor, in 
i%i ozvn concluding note to these Dialogues, in language, sen- 
timent, and dignity beyond all praise. 

I m?y add, that if this mode of arguing against every 
endjavour to reform the manners of mankind, and to recall them 
to virtue and wisdom, is to be adopted, we are indeed in the high 
road to ruin and revolution. Fortunately there is as much sense 
as there is policy and truth, in this indiscreet and dangerous, 
doctrine. I might as well say ; " There is always a certain list 
or catalogue of diseases, infirmities, and miseries attendant upon 
every human being in every stage of his earthly existence, and 
which will appear, disquiet, and lay waste the species in all- 
ages. The art of medicine never can wholly remove them, 
and they will never he cut $f date till doomsday* What is the- 
use of the physician and his skill ? We should never apply to : 
him, but suffer silently, till our dissolution takes place, without 
any attempt to remove the pain or misery which $esh is heir 
to, even when it is in our power to mitigate, or perhaps to cure 
them." 

I really cannot pass doctrines like these without animadver« 
sion, especially when they are either recommendedj or approved, 






I 4ii ] 

Koran, or Vulgate, Veda, Priest, or Bonze,) 

And 

by a Doctor of the Church whose office it is to declare, pronounce, 
and enforce the doctrine of moral reformation. He should not 
forget the constitution of the natural and moral world. " Good 
is set against evil, and life against death. So look upon the 
works of the Most High ; there are two and two, one against 
another" I feel I am right in submitting such remarks as these 
to the public. 

As to political sentiments, I own I was surprised to read 
many notes, but particularly these words in vol. 4, p. 333, 
on the compliment Virgil paid to Cato. '.' A much honest er 
" passage (says Dr. Warton) is that in which Virgil had the 
f* courage to represent his hero assisting the Etruscans in punish* 
f< ing* their tyrannical king, in the 8th book of the ^Eneid. 

" Ergo omxi\zfuriis surrexit Etruri a _/#////, 
Regem ad supplicium prassenti marie reposcunt." 

Dr. W. knows that Julius Caesar was not Mezentius ; and lam 
sure he cannot approve and recommend this passage, whiten has 
been in the mouth of every modern Regicide from the murderers 
of Charles I. to the murderers of Louis XVI. £ut why 
perpetually call out these passages to public notice ? Why dwell 
upon the " morgue et grandeur oYs Souverains," *' the autho- 
rised type of a Lion, &c. &c." (Vol. 4. p. 330 ) in times i-ke 
these:' We all love liberty as well as Pr. W. but a. wise and 
good man discerns the signs of the Times. These are the under- 
murrnurings of a spurious, bastard, half- republicanism : I like 
ihem not. 

I writs 
f Punishing is the modern democrat jcal word for murdering* 



[ 412 ] 

And lend to truth itself unhallow'd aid, 

Ijs 



I write with indignation against such an edition of such a 
poet. Does any Husband, or Father, think of cautioning - his 
wife, his daughter, or his son, against any part whatsoever 
of Pope's works ? If this edition becomes general, it will be 
necessary to do so. I have no personal dislike to Dr. Warton: 
my business with him is solely, as Editor of Pope; and in that 
character nothing can justify him. Am I to spare public criticism 
on an edition of Pope's works, because of Dr. Warton's age ?! 
(is it in the title page?) or for the variety and extent of his 
learning ? Surely not. They are both strong against the deed ; 
and Dr. Warton's own words of himself are, "lam answerable." 

Pope was in his hands in double trust : First, as he is the 
most moral and correct poet of the nation,, the consistence of 
his fame and character should have been preserved, even by the 
partiality of an editor. Secondly, Dr. W. stood bound to his 
country, from his sacred profession,, not to contaoiin&te th$ 
rising youth of either sex by such filihiness and rank obscenity 
«s would disgrace the viled magatire. By this he has com- 
jiiitted a great offence against the public, which he cannot 
repair. I am sure I have spoken nothing of Dr. W.*s private 
character; bat his edition is open to me, and to the whole 
world. It challenges my notice j and executed as it is, hi 
demands the very spirit of Satire. I use velut stiictQ JLucM'iuj 
ardens infremuit. 

The very indecent chapter of «« The Double Mistress," in, 
this scandalous Sixth Volume^ should have been omitted, in the 
Memoirs of Scriblerus. (Vol. 6. p. 150.) In the Second 
Volume there are a few trumpery, vulgar, copies of verses 
which disgrace the pages. 1 am ashamed of the low taste which 

could 



C 413 3 

In all the rashness of a scholar's trade, 

And 

could suffer them to appear before the public. I again and again 
disclaim any personal harshness or severity on the character of 
Dr. Warton, with whom I am not even acquainted. All I call 
for loudly is, that this sixth volume should suffer what every 
catalogue yearly informs me, poor Hollingshead once suffered* 
I never before heard that tenderness was due to an edition of any 
work ; but in these days„ if an idea or opinion is but absurd, 
it will be considered as deep and sagacious. 

I shall not make an/ further remarks on Dr. W's criticisms 
on Pope at present, they are often very just, curious and grati- 
fying, but chiefly taken from his old Essay. J cannot now 
proceed. Nos genera degustamus, non bibliothecas discutimus.* 

If I have written at large on this subject, it is because I 
thought it important. Nothing is intended personally to Dr. 
Joseph Warton in this note 5 but whoever, with the character of 
a scholar, had published Pope's Woiks in this m&nner 9 would 
have received the same strong reprobation from me. 

This Poem on the Pursuits of Literature is designed to represent 
and hold forth to the people of Great Britain whatever directly or 
indirectly strikes at, or affects, the existence of the public morality, 
or of the principles by which the constitution of England, 01 of 
society itself in a polished and well guarded-state, is maintained 
in vigour and in sound health* Dr. Warton may be, and I doubt 
not he is, a sensible, well-informed, agreeable, and very ingenious 
man, and of amiable manners in private life. Oftheselhave 
said nothing ; I am sure I am not disponed to contradict or to 
question them. But, in his office and character of Editor of 
Pope's works* I solemnly impeach him of a high crime 

and 
;f Quint, lib. 10. c. 1, 



C 4H 3 

And fall, like (/) Porson. 



OCTAVlUg, 



and misdemeanor before his country, as I have proved at large. 
It is a material part of my work, to mark the offences, errors^ 
Or aberrations of men of eminence in literature. If I shrink 
from this duty on any consideration whatsoever, I hope I shall 
be despised and neglected. Non me Phcshi cortina fefellii. 

We should naturally look to so learned and ingenious a man as 
Dr. Warton (I always esteemed him as such) for instruction and 
improvement in classical taste, and moral sentiment. But when 
a Pilot of long experience not only neglects the care of the 
vessel intrusted to his skill and fidelity, but almost voluntarily 
directs it into the port of an enemy, or by extreme negligence 
and inattention exposes it to the danger of a shipwreck, he should 
not be surprised if he meets the fate of Palinurus. 

Gubern2c!um {non vi, «a t sfonte,) remissum, 
Cui datus haerebat custos, cursusque regebat, 
Pr ce 'dpi 'tans traxit sccum ! ( 1 797 .) 

(b) Perry , put synonimously for the printer of any factious 
newspaper. 

(/) See Mr. Professor Person's Letter to Archdeacon Travis, 
of which the world has now heard quite enough. I hope this very 
learned and gifted man will now begin some work of importance ; 
but it is, and ever was, beneath his great abilities to write in the 
little democratic closet fitted up for the wits at the Morning Chro- 
nicle office. It may do well * enough for some other ingenious 
men, if a certain political Dramatist's compotations will leave 
them any abilities at all, which I begin to doubt. 

What is mere genius, without a regulated life! Young men 
about town (to use that detestable phrase,) will at last allow it, if 

they 






I 415 ] 



OCTAVIUS. 

You may spare your pains* 
He gives no ear to any modern strains, 

Save 

they look at all the tattered, sin-worn fragments of their species, 
whom they meet in their walks. 

To shew the deformity of vice to the rising hope of "their 
Country, the policy of ancient Sparta exhibited an inebriated 
Slave. As to the pursuits of heedless pleasure in excess, it has 
been wisely observed, that " The Constitution of nature marks 
out the course we should follow, and the end we should aim at. 
To make pleasure, and mirth, and jollity, our business^ and to 
be constantly hurrying about after some gay amusement, some 
new gratification of sense,- or appetite, to those who will consider 
the nature of man, and our condition in the world, will appear 
the most romantic scheme of life which ever entered into, 
thought. Yet many go on in this course, without learning 
better from the daily, the hourly disappointments, listlessness, 
and satiety, which accompany this fashionable method of 
wasting away their days." 

I think indeed that the words of Junius are as true in a 
moral and religious sense, as they are in their political and 
original application. " If life be the bounty of heaven, we 
scornfully reject the noblest part of the gift, if we consent to 
.Surrender that certain rule of living, without which 
the condition of human nature is not only miserable, but 

As 
* Junius, Letter 20, 



t 416 3 

Save those, by Oberea (k) fondly sung, 
What time Opano (/) trembled on her tongue* 

AUTHOR. 

Censure or praise let others seek or fear : 520 

Look at my verse, the superscription there, 
The cause that I defend : 'tis yours, 'tis mine, 
The statesman's, and the peasant's. In my line, 

All 



As the descent to a life merely sensual is accelerated in a propor- 
tion which is always increasing, I wish most affectionately, that if 
any ingenuous and sensible, though perhaps thoughtless, young- 
man of fashion, fortune, and talents, should happen to read this 
rot?, he may above all things remember this great sentence from 
Junius, and write it upon the tablet of his heart. 

(k) See " An Epistle from Oberea, Queen of Otaheite, to 
* ( Joseph Banks, Esq." (now Sir Joseph Banks), Mr. Porson's 
favourite modern poem, which he can say, or rather sing to hi* 
friends, as I am told. It is very ingenious, but rather too free; 
and the versification is exquisite. 

(/) Opano or Tabano was the manner in which the name of 
Banks was pronounced at Otaheite. But in this learned Ian- 
$ruaa;e, as Mr. Zachary Fungus says to his brother Isaac in the 
Commissary, " Pshaw ! you blockhead, I tell you tbs NAMS 
« does not signify nothing* \ 






t 417 3 

All find iii me a patron and a friend, 

Unseen* unknown, unshaken to the end* 

Yes, from the depths of Pindus shall my rhymes, 

Through this mis-order'd world, these lawless times; 

Be heard in Albion and her inmost state : 

All that the good revere, and bad men hate, 

In spirit and in substance, as of old, 530 

The Muse in her Asbestos (w) shall enfold* 

This is my Method.— Though I sometimes stray 
From Euclid's rigid rules to Fancy's way} 
Yet have I mus'd on Granta's willowy strand, 
The sage of Alexandria in my hand, 
And mark'd his symbols deep 5 while o'er my ear 
Truth pour'd her strain in harmony severe, 

I sought 

(m) I know not whether 1 need mention it, but it was att 
ancient Roman custom to wrap dead bodies, before they were 
placed on the funeral pile, in a cloth made from a stone called 
Amiantus or Linum wivUm, by some called the Asbestos^ on whichv 
fire had no power. (See D'Aubenton, Tableau Methodiqwe deft 
Mineraux, p. 10. Edit. Par. 8vo, 1784.) 



[ 4i8 ] 

I sought the Stagirite ; arid could divide 
(No Scotsman near, no Gillies {nn) by my side) 
His sober sense from pride of intellect, 540 

What Locke confirm'd, or warn'd me to reject. 

Thence soaring on the balanced wings of thought, 
(As Kepler hinted, but as Newton taught,) 
My mind in calm ascension to the height 
Of the world's temple, through the abyss of light, 
Mid wand'ring fires and every starr'd abode, 
Explor'd the works and wonders of the God, 
Who fix'd the laws of order, time, and place, 
In his own great sensorium, (0) boundless space* 

The 

(m) Since writing this verse, I am happy to say, that I 
think we are much indebted to Dr. Gillies for offering to the 
Public, at this period, an English translation* of the two most 
important treatises on morality and politics, which antiquity 
can boaft. No man can read these works without being wiser 
and better, particularly the Politicians of the day. (March 1798.) 

(0) " Deus, in sfiatio infinito, tanqUam in sensorio suo, res 
intime cernit, &c. &c." Newton Princip. Schol. General 
sub fin. 

* Aristotle's Ethics and Politics, a vol. 4to. 1798. 



[ 4^9 | 

The Chemist's magic flame, the curious sport 55$ 
Amber first gave, would oft my fancy court : 
Led through creation's consecrated range, 
Each flower, and plant, and stem, with every change 
Of vegetative life, in order brought, 
I magnified Linnaeus, (/z) as I thought ; 
But spurn'd unfeeling science, cruel tales 
Of Virgin (q) rabbets, and of headless (r) snails, 

And 

(Jt) But not in the spirit of that silly man, who inscribed 
these words under the print of Linnseus : " Deus creavit, Lin* 
il naus disposuit." — There is more folly in the inscription, than 
any intention of impiety; it is the mere rage of antithesis with- 
out reflection. But in this botanizing age, it should not pass 
without observation to all naturalists* There is a sublime pic- 
ture of a heathen Poet, which is not unworthy of any man who 
acknowledges " The Worker distinct from the work," 

Stabat anhela metu, solum Natura Tonantem 
Res/iiciens f * 

{q) Virgin Rabbets. — I allude in general to all needless, and 
Cruel experiments upon animals. All that breathe, and feel, and 
enjoy the gift of life from their Creator are entitled to protection 
from man, under those limits and degrees which an honest and 
upright mind knows without being told. But in this place I 
particularly allude to an anecdote related to me ty a friend, of a 
Paper read at the Royal Society in the course of the last winter, 
(1797,) on the subject of generation, 

Ddr The 

* Stat. Achii. 1. i. 4 Sg. 



t 420 ] 

And through the realms of Nature as I trod, 



Bow'd 



The animal chosen for these savage experiments by the 
merciless Doctor, was the Rabbet. Decency and humanity 
alike forbid the exposure of the process, and the mutilation of 
the parts of generation, before and after the animal was impreg- 
nated, and I think, in one or two of them, before the coitus. 
Surely to sit calmly and to watch with an impure, inhuman, 
and unhallowed curiosity the progress of the desires, and the 
extinction of the natural passions in devoted animals, after 
such mutilations and experiments, is a practice useless, wicked, 
foolish, degrading, and barbarous. There is no justification 
of such a practice to be offered. The mystery itself is not to be 
disclosed toman ; but it seems we will know every thing ; yet 
I wish we would also recollect that we must account for our 
knowledge. 

When an experiment, for any purpose useful to millions of 
our fellow-creatures, has been once made upon an animal, it 
should be finally recorded by men of science and veracity, as 
authentic and satisfactory, not to be repeated. Sometimes, as 
1 was told, the idea of cruelty exercised upon these animals was 
for a moment lost in the ridiculous terms, which were perpetually 
repeated in these papers, which occupied three orfoursittingsof 
the Royal Society. My friend told me, that he actually thought 
that Sir Charles Blagden, Knight, and then Secretary 
to the R. S. had been provided with specimens, and that he 
expected to see Virgin Rabbets, married Rabbets, and matron 
Rabbets produced from a basket on the table to lick, as in 
scorn and contempt, the very mace of a society, which night 
after night could sit and hear such a cruel farrago without 
indignation, but with half-smiles and simpers at the virginity 

of these unprotected, devoted, miserable animals. 

Whea 



[ 4» ] 

Bow'd at the throne, and saw (j) the povv'r, of God. 
In morals, in religion, in the state, 560 

In science, without order, all I hate. 

OCTAVIUS. 

When Papers arethus publicly ofFensive,they should be publicly 
reprobated, and not suffered to be produced before the Royal 
Society, upon a pretence of promoting natural knowledge. Why 
has the Society a Council? The Council should be a 
literary and philosophical Grand Jury. Jf it is not so, it is of 
no use whatsoever, but to gratify the silly vanity of dilettanti 
noblemen and busy Romish Baronets. I should think Mr. 
Plant a, the very learned, judicious, accurate, and well- 
informed Secretary to the R. S. would be of my opinion. To 
make such experiments as these, is to offer an insult to the 
Sacrarium of the Most High. For my own part, I would extend 
the famous speech of the Barons in the age of Henry the Third. 
I would thunder in the ears of the President and of the whole 
Pvoyal Society, as a body, w Nolumus Leges Naturae mutari!" 
( I 797-) 

(;) Here is another savage instance to no end or purpose 
whatsoever, but the mere cruel sport of curiosity. The Abbe 
Spalanzani asserts that snails re-produce their heads, after the am- 
putation of the original capita ; and he actually made experiments 
numerous beyond belief. But in the Academie des Sciences 
1778, the reader will find Mr. Cotte differs from the humane 
Abbe, and says, ** that out of thousands of snails who have suffered 
the operation, there have not been above five or six of them 
which have, as it is pretended, reproduced their heads** 

{s) Nos/xsva y.kQo[)Ztui. 

St. Paul. 

Dd .3 



[ 4^2 J 



OCTAVIUS. 

Speak then, the hour demands; Is Learning fled ? 
Spent all her vigour, all her spirit dead ? 
Have Gallic arms and unrelenting war 
Borne all her trophies from Britannia far ? 
Shall nought but ghosts and trinkets be displa^'d, 
Since Walpole (/) ply'd the virtuoso's trade, 
Bade sober truth revers'd for fiction pass, 
And mus'd o'er Gothic toys through Gothic glass? 
Since states, and words, and volumes, all are new, 
Armies have skeletons, (v) and sermons (w) too; 571 

So 



(/) The late ingenious Earl of Orford, Horace Walpole. The 
spirit of enquiry which he introduced was rather frivolous, 
though pleasing, and his Otranto Ghosts have propagated their 
species with unequalled fecundity. The spawn is in every novel 
shop. 

(v) The language of the House of Commons. It should 
have been in other terms: sunt lacrymae rerum, et mentem 
mortalia tangunt. Sorrow is sacred, and should have the 
language of consolation even from the lips of a Statesman, 



[ 4*3 ] 

So teach our Doctors warlike or divine, 
Simeon by Cam, or Wyndham on the Rhine. 
Where is Invention ? is the modern store, 
The same that old Chaldasa knew before; 
All that the Gallic sage, with ill-starr'd wit, 
Kens from his ancient {x) telescopic pit ? 

AUTHOR. 

All is not lost : (y) the spirit shall revive : 
Lowth yet instructs, and Blayney's (z). labours live; 

With 



(w) See Claude's Essay on a Sermon, with an Appendix, 
containing one hundred Skeletons of Sermons, &c. By Charles 
Simeon, M. A. Fellow of King's College Cambridge. 1796. 
This :<; as ludicrous and absurd in a Divine, as the term isoffen* 
sive and unfeeling in Parliament during she miseries of war. 

(x) See the lt Origine des Deqouvertes attributes aux Mo- 
" dernes," 4to. par Monsieur Dutens. 1797. The work is 
rather entertaining, but by no means encouraging, if the ingenious 
Author did not generally substitute conjecture for proof. He 
observes, page 130, in his tenth chapter, " that the bottom of a 
€i pit, from whence we may see the stars at noon-day, may be 
*' imagined to be the primitive telescope.*' Mr, Dutens may sit in 
calm contemplation at tbt bottom of his ancient///, and from that 
natural primitive telescope see whatever best pleases his fancy ? 

D ii 4 bus? 



[ 424 ] 

With all who wander by the sacred fount, j;8q 

(A chosen band !) encircling Sion's mount. 
Fast by the fanes and oracles of God, 
And mark, with King (a), where waves his awfuj rod. 

The 

but for my own part I prefer the prospect from a cliff with ths 
assistance of modern ingenuity, whether invented by Democritus, 
XJollond, or Ramsden. 

(y) I have in various parts of this Poem spoken of those* 
writers, who have done honour to Great Britain. Jt is no| 
indeed possible for me to name ail those who, even now, form that 
constellation of ability and talents, which has been or may yet be 
displayed; and which Plutarch might call, in language somewhat 
lofty, (I think in his Treatise de Placitis Philosophorum,) the 
TloKKcov xoot cuv&xwv Aorspm fffptfpwri^o/jtsy^y ah'ky'kQtf 

SYNATrASMON, 

(z) The deeply-Iparned Translator and Commentator or* 
Jeremiah, &c. &c. B. Blayney, D.D. Regius Professor pf He* 
brew, and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, 

{a) As The French Revolution and its Consequences must occupy 

and alarm the thoughts of every man who reflects, and stands in 

awe of the misery and desolation which have been brought upon 

the earth, and of the judgments which may be yet impending 

over Europe, I think I may be excused by many persons for the 

note which I am now writing. But first I recommend to all 

those who either ignorantly, or inconsiderately, or impiously, 

or presumptuously deny, reject, or vilify the Scriptures, to pass it 

over entirely ; for to them it will be foolishness ; they have neither; 

part nor lot in such a discussion, 

Bu$ 



I 4*5 1 

The truth of evidence, the moral strain* 



Nor 



But under this restriction, and under this impression, I am 
Inclined to extend the subject a little, and would call the public 
attention with much earnestness to some few parts of a book, 
printed in the beginning of the year 1788 in 4to, intided ■' -Mor. 
selsof Criticism, tending to illustrate some passages in the holy 
scriptures upon philosophical principles, and an enlarged view 
of things: by Edward King, Eso^. F. R. A. S. printed for 
Robson and Robinson, in 1 788." The title of it is objectionable 
pn every account, open to ignorant ridicule, and certainly 
unadvised ; but had a second edition of the work been called for, 
|t might easily have been altered.* 

The author of it appears to me, (/ speak from his hook) to be a 
gentleman of extensive erudition and ingenuity, and of accurate 
biblical knowledge, perhaps a little too fond of the theory, and 
sometimes a little whimsical in his application of natural philoso* 
phy ; but never without a serious intention and a profound piety. 
He never forgets the nature of the subjects which he is treating* 
He seems to approach the sacred writings with that prostration 
pf mind, that distrust of his own powers, and that self-abasement, 
which are required of those, who desire to look into the 
hidden things of God. I speak of the spirit by which he appears 
to me to be conducted, and (I repeat it,) I speak from the work 
clone. I shall contend for no interpretations given by Mr. King j 
but I propose them to public consideration ; for I never observed 
more caution and more wariness than in this writer. 

We know that it is declared, that " the book of Prophecy is 
sealed till the time of completion.^ But the events of the world, 
of the Christian world, are so awful and so alarming as to in- 
duce us to beieve, that they happen not without the immediate 
providence, and decree of the Supreme Being against the 

superstition 
£ Jt Jvas latelv been reprinted in three volumes 8vo. ( i8qo») 



C 426 3 

Nor Hurd has preach'd, nor Paley taught in vain; 

Socinus 



superstition and corruptions of man, and for the fulfilling of the 
preparation for those times, when, " the Kingdoms of this world 
must {in defiance of all human policy) become the kingdoms of God 
and of his Christ L" 

The direct and circumstantial evidence for Christianity is 
indeed very extensive, and it is also so minute and clear in many 
parts of it, and so cogent, as to form the strictest argument 
which a matter of fact can admit as a proof. But exclusive of 
it's doctrines and specific precepts, there is one point in which 
this Revelation can never be sufficiently considered, and which 
without study never will be comprehended, nor even imperfectly 
conceived: and without seriousness it should never be approached. 
It is this: " The general design of Scripture, considered at 
* historical, may be said to be, to give us an account of the 
* fe World in this one single view, as God's world ! by which 
ts it appears essentially distinguished from all other books, except 
46 such as are copied from it."f But on this idea it is not my 
province to enlarge; I mean only to present it as the grand, 
luminous, and leading idea on this awful subject. I would 
conduct the reader into a safe and proper train of thinking, 
and leave him to pursue his own meditation, I have also 
lead words, which are deemed apocryphal, but wotthy of the 
highest power. " All these things were made through me, 
¥ alone, and through none other-* by me also shall they 

** BE ENDED, AND EY NONE OTHER !!!" + 

I will therefore offer, to persons seriously disposed, some passages 
from this work written several years before the present events 
had taken place in Europe, or could be conceived to be possible. 

I wish 

i Butler's Analogy Part 2. Ch. ;. J Esdras, B. 2. Ch. 6. v. 7. 






[ 427 ] 

Socinus droops, and baffled Priestley flies, 



And 



I wish to be clearly understood, that I am not speaking in this 
note of any other parts or interpretations in this work of Mr. King. 
I am as little disposed to superstition and enthusiasm as any man 
living ; and I do not give them as additions to the idle prophecies 
and random conjectures which have appeared in such numbers. 
I have too much reverence for the reader, and for myself, 
and for the subject. Mr. King offers them only as his inter- 
pretations of scripture, submitted to a calm discussion. But 
the circumstance which peculiarly strikes me is this ; that they 
were written without any specific reference to any nation in 
Europe, but simply and in general, that such times and such 
events might be expected in some part of the Christian world. 

The first passage I shall present, is a portion of Mr. King's 
explanation of the 24th Chapter of St. Mathew's gospel, prin- 
cipally of the 29th verse.* In regard to which he says, " We 
<{ may remark, if the words are to be understood, as spoken 
*' merely emblematically, then the images made use of are such 
u as are well known to predict (consistently with their constant 
u use in many other parts of prophecy) a great destruction and 
*' almost annihilation of many of those lawful powers which rule on 
u earthy however beneficial any of them may be to the earth ; 

<( W A DREADFUL LESSENING OF THE DIGNITY AND SPLEN- 
*' DOUR OF ALL GREATNESS, AND A SUBVERSION OF ALL 
" GOOD ORDER AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT 1 . Than which 

" nothing can be expected more formidable. Dreadful indeed 
** must be A time, (if such an one is to come) when men are let 
* c loose upon each other, possessed of all their present improvements 

" and 

* Of course 1 refer the reader to the book itself for the tenor 
of the whole argument. 



C 4*8 ] 

And at the strength of Horsley (b) shrinks, and dies. 

Nor 



u and advantages, hut unrestrained either hy law and civil 
" 'government, cr hy conscience and good principle', scorning the 
*' admonition and authority of those who ought to maintain 
* c justice, and assisted by the more rude and barbarous -parts of 
w the world, whom they shall iind top ready t$ encreass thh 

♦* UNIVERSAL UPROAR."'* 

At the conclusion of the Remarks on the Revelations, Ch*. 
16. v, 13 and 14. Mr. King says: " Here while we maintain 
*' due reverential fear, our interpretation must end. Nothing 
* i but the events than selves , when they come to pass, czn rightly 
'* explain the rest : and they will certainly speak loudly 
f* enough for themselves, as those before have done. Only I 
* l must just remark, that it seems, as if perficution and the horrid 
** influences of superstition, and of ignorance, and of barbarism were 
** allowed to produce their dire effects during the fit st part of 
" the period of the time described under the Vials-, and as if,. 

i{ IRRELIGJON, VANITY, AND A TOTAL WANT OF ALL SERiOUJ 
*' PRINCIPLE, AND A MISAPPLICATION OF THE REFINEMENTS 

** of civilization, were to be allowed to produce their mis- 
" chief also at the latter end of that period!" page 45.3. See- 
al^o, p. 456 and 457, which I could wish to copy, the words 
are so important, and the stvle so dignified. 

In the conclusion of which Mr. King observes,, on the finishing 
tf the mystery of God, " that as there should be faise Chr.ists and 
" false prophets, so there should be also a dreadful subversion of 
*' all good government and order, and that men should be let 
*' loose upon each other, in defance of all civil power and just rule > 
4t and of legal restraint." He subjoins some words too remark- 
able 

* P. 362, 



C 429 ] 

Nor second stand in theologic fame, 

Sagacious 

able to be passed over. * lt It will be happy for those who shall 
*' live some years hence, if they czn prove me guilty of a mistake 
" in this point. I speak and write with cautious reverence and 
"fear; acknowledging that I am liable to error, and by no 
" means pretending to prophecy ; but stili apprehending myself 
*• bound not to conceal the truth, where any matter appears to be 
<c revealed in Holy Scripture ; and especially when the bringing 
*' an impending denunciation to light, (if it be a truth) may be an 
*' awful warning and caution to many, and prevent their 

6i BECOMING ACCESSARY TO THE EVIL. J" 

I must own, I am so struck with these passages, that without 
any knowledge of this most distinguished Layman but from his 
work, I could almost be induced to address him, in the sublime 

apostrophe 

* Page 46 1 . 

% I would offer the following passage from the great Histo- 
rian Josephus, on the inattention and ignorance of man in 
regard to the divine predictions, as peculiarly remarkable; 
the words are these : 

Tavra, /xsv, lycavco; sixtyocvicmi SvvccfAsvot, rnv ru ©ss tyvviv tqis 
ayvoHGtv, ejpixa/xev, on TrouuXvi r scrn xeu TroXvrpoTzos, y.oct 
•navrcc x«0' uipzv a,7rccvTa. rsrocyfjisvag, a. rs Oct ysvzaQat itpoksysr 
rw rs rcov cc^pcoirajv ArNOIAN KAI AI7I2TIAN, &p 
9j<; aSsv vrpo'iSztv cCtQwo-xv tojv a,7ro^Yi(TOf/.svcov, A<i>TAAKTOI 
TE TAI2 2TM<S>OPAI2 nAPEAO©H2AN, «>$ *w- 

%<z\ov ocvroig sivoci tow s% ocvra/v Trsipxv Sixty uyziv ! 
Joseph, Antiq. Jud, Lib, 10. S. 3. p. 449. Ed. Hudson. Oxon. 



[ 43d ] 

Sagacious Hey (c), and Rennell's {d) learned name, 

And 

apostrophe of one of the most eloquent Fathers of the ancient 
Church; " Av9pc<J7rs t« ©sa, Triers Qepocwov xaci oix.ovo(jus rwv ra 
©s« {juvo-TYipicov, Avep e&tQtfauwV' revv r» ixvzu[Mocros, xaXco 2s 
aruXov koci s^pccico^cc rr,s ExxXvjffiag, Xoyov £o;rj? £7rc%ovr«, xa* 
7Ti(rrsa;s" spstcr/xa, xai 7lVcU[xa,ros xxrayooyM."* 

Thus f did this very learned and most pious man in a strain 
of serious, temperate, and impressive eloquence deliver his 
opinion and his interpretation. They will stand before us and 
our posterity, as the memorial of that lonely wisdom, that reve- 
rential application of the divine word, and of that silent dignity, 
which can only be attained by a retirement (at intervals) from 
the world which God hath made to Him alone, and by that 
worship in spirit and in truth, which when joined to human 
erudition, and to the sober cultivation of the understanding, 
will produce fruit unto life. 

But I conclude ; humbly acknowledging and most deeply 
feeling myself wholly unequal, and altogether unworthy, to speak 
of the awful sublimity of such subjects. My office can be but 
ministerial ; it is mine only to lead the aspirant to the door 
of the temple, and to retire. (1797.) 

(h) The Right Rev. Samuel Horsley, Bishop of Rochester* 
In my opinion, the controversy so ably maintained by this 
learned Prelate against the Heresiarch Priestley, is his peculiar 

praise. 

* Grcgor. Naz. Orat. 19. (Op. edit. Prunsei. p. 216. Paris 
1609.) It was pronounced before the great Basil, when seated 
en the archiepiscopal throne of Caesarea. (A. C. circ. 374.) 

f In the beginning of the year 1788. Mr. K.'s book was 
probably written some years before it was offered to the public. 



{ 43i 1 

And Douglas, (e) hail'd afar from earliest youth 59® 
Great "victor in the well-fought field of truth. 

To 

praise. Bishop Horsley reminds me of the celebrated Divine, 
Charles Leslie ; for he has often the same strength, the same 
acuteness, and sometimes the same coarseness of manner; but 
the arguments are cogent, and the arms are irresistible. In 
theological controversy, Charles Leslie and Bishop Horsley 
always appear to me, " iEacidse similes, Vulcaniaque arma 
capessunt." 

To all such writers and dissertators as Priestley, either in. 
theology or in politics, these admirable lines of Prudentius are 
peculiarly applicable: 

Quid non libido mentis humanae struat? 

Quid non malovum /irur tat t 
Statum Jacessunt omnipollentis Dei 

Calnmniosis litibus. 
Fidem minutis dissecant ambagibus, 

Ut quisque lingua nequior : 
Solvunt ligantque quaestionum vincula 
Per syllogismos plectiies. 

Prudentius in Prologo ad Apotheosim. 

(c) The Rev. John Hey, D. D. late Norrisian Professor in 
the University of Cambridge. The arrangement, the learning, 
the accuracy, and the extent of his researches in theology, are 
conspicuous in his laborious and important work, entitled 
*' Lectures, &c." read as Professor. (1797.) 

{d) The Rev. Thomas Rennell, D.D. Author of a very able, 
learned, and eloquent Apology for the Church of England, 
preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, before the Sons of the Clergy, 
May io ? 1796. 



t 43* J 
To me, all heedless of proud fashion's sfteef# 
Maurice (/) is leam'd, and Wilberforce (v) sincefe^ 

(Though 

'(e) The Right &ev. John Douglas, D.D. Bishop of Salisbury! 
a Prelate whose erudition, penetrating sagacity, and well- 
directed efforts have discovered and overthrown many a strong, 
hold of literary imposture. The names of Lauder and Bower 
are only remembered to their infamy* The Bishop's Treatise 
on Miracles, called " The Criterion," should be reprinted* 
Y/hy is it not again presented to the public? (Oct- 1797.) 

(/) The Reverend Thomas Blaurice, Author of •• Indian* 
Antiquities, in 6 vol. 8vc." and of " the History of Hifl- 
•' dostan, it's Arts and it's Sciences, as connected with 
4t the History of the other great Empires of Asia, during 
<c the most ancient periods of the world." The public are 
well acquainted with their merits. But it is with the most 
serious concern, that I read what Mr. Maurice has declared 
in his dedication, that " This History commenced under the 
*' patronage of the Court of the East India Directors, is dedicated 
" to them, in hwmhle hopes of their continued support of a ivork^ 
" which must sink without that * support." Learning 
has felt a degradation from these words. I am not to be told^ 
that researches like these of Mr. Maurice are liable to the caprice 
of erudition, and of uncertain application, and that his style^ 
matter, and manner are frequently too luxuriant and diffuse* 
The foundation of a temple may be strong, though every 
ornament on the pillars may not be just. (Nov. 1797.) 

* The E. I. Company subscribed for a certain number 0$ 
Copies. This cannot be called support, nor patronage in suobt 
a body. 



C 433 3 

(Though on his page some pause in sacred doubt) 



As 



(v) See, " A practical view of the prevailing religious system 
Of professed Christians in the higher and middle classes in this 
country, contrasted with real Christianity." By William WiU 
berforce, Esq. M. ?. for the county of York.— Some very 
serious persons have their doubts as to the theological principles 
of this work in their/a// extent, and I fear it is far too rigid and 
exclusive in it's doctrines. There is also too much of a sectarian 
language, which cannot be approved. But of the intention, 
virtue, learning, and patriotism of the eloquent and well- 
informed Senator, I have the most 'honourable and decided 
opinion. 

His work is vehement, impassioned, urgent, fervid, instant ; 
though sometimes copious to prolixity, and in a few parts even 
to tediousness. Perhaps it is the production of an orator rather 
than of a writer; I should think it had been dictated. Through- 
out the whole, there is a manly fortitude of thought, firm and 
unshrinking. But for my own part, for obvious reasons, I dislike 
the term " Real Christianity," as exclusively applied to any ,/** 
of propositions drawn from the Gospel. 

From external circumstances indeed, I would not take 
theology from Athanasius or Bossuet, morality from Seneca or 
politics from Lansdown or Sieves. But I will own, that from a 
scrutiny into the public and private character of Mr.Wilberforce, 
I am inclined to think, that his enemies would be forced into an 
acknowledgment, (as it is recorded in the words of a prophet,) 
that " they can find no occasion against this man, except they 
find it against him concerning the law of his God." A reader 
of his work must be good or bad in the extreme, who may not 
receive some advantage from such a composition. I am indeed 
unworthy to praise it, and I feel myself ?o, 

Ee If 



C 434 ] 

As Gisborne (i) serious, and as Pott (V) devout* 
Nor yet ungrac'd may Sulivan (d) remain, 

Serene 

If I may descend from divinity to mere philosophy, I shall 
add, that if Mr. Wilberforce proceeds and acts upon the sub- 
limity of such principles, we may apply to him the expressions 
drawn from the fountain of Plato by his most enthusiastic 
votary, Plotinus. A^ socura /otsraCa/vsi, ojs eixoov wpos ctpys- 
tvtgv, rsXos- zyjjjv rns Tropsizs ! He will best comprehend the 
high and holy sentence which declares what is the life of such 
men ; 'Ourco Oeuv x<zi ccyBpcoftcov Qeiav xoci ev^ai^ovajv £ios 9 
eCnczWocy/i rcov aXkoov rcov ty^s, £10; awitiovog rcov rr^s, 

#rrH monot itpox monon i* 

(&) The Reverend Thomas Gisborne, M. A. the ingenious 
Author of an Enquiry into the Duties of Men, &c. and of 
the Female Sex, &c. &c. eminently entitled to the public 
esteem and gratitude. 

. (c) The Rev. J. H. Pott, M. A. the learned and excellent 
Arch-deacon of St. Alban's ; in his writings instructive, 
laborious in his office, and exemplary in his life, and in his 
profession. 

(d) Richard Joseph Sulivan, Esq. F. R. S. and F. A. S. 
author of *■ Philosophical Rhapsodies, &c." and of " A View 
of Nature, in Letters to a Traveller among the Alps, with 
*' Reflections on Atheistical Philosophy, now exemplified in 
" France, in six vol. 8vo." which is a work of labour 
and of general utility, digested from original writers with judg- 
ment, and with an upright virtuous heart, in a pleasing and 
instructive manner. It appears to be intended merely as an 

introductiQu 

f Plotini Ennead. 6, L. 9 . c. xi. 



[ 435 1 

Serene in fancy, nor in science vain; 

But still, though oft his various works I scan, 

I quit the volume, when I find the man. 

Herschell (/), with ampler mind and magic glass, 

Mid 

introduction to works of deeper science ; and I consider it in this 
light. I dwell with affection on such a character as Mr. 
Sulivan; and, if this were the place, and if India were the 
theme, I might make honourable mention of the works and 
excellence of his Brother, John Sulivan, Esq. 

(f) Dr. Herschell's new doctrine concerning the Materia 
Solaris, has attracted much attention among the learned. I offer 
to their consideration a curious passage, which I met with 
when I was reading with a very different purpose. The Platonic 
Proclus, in the third book of the Commentaries on the 
Timseus of his great Master, mentions that Aristotle (whom, 
surely with justice, he calls 6 Qocv[agcgtos Apio-roreJvrjs-) hints, 
that the sun and the stars are not absolutely bodies of fire* 
The words are these; Tov rcov Ao-rpoov yppov, xcci avrov 
rov (xtyxv H\iov, OTK ONTA EK IITPOS.* 
There is another singular passage (not so explicit as this from 
Proclus) in the first book, de Cslo, of the second Ennead of 
Plotinus the Platonicorum Coryphaeus, as he has been called ; 
he talks also, rather quaintly from Aristotle, of a Uvg m 

TOM ActpOOV 7Tp06(p0pQV (pVGSt* t 

E e a The 

* Procli Comment, in Timseum Platonis ; Edit. Basil, 
Cr. 1534. p. 141, 

t Plotin. Ennead 2. L. 1. pag. 99, &c. Edit. Basil. cur» 
Comment. Ficini. 



I 436 3 

Mid worlds and worlds revolving as they pass, 600 
Pours the full clustered radiance from on high, 
That fathomless abyss of Deity. 
Who in the depth abstruse of intellect 
A greater now than Waring (g) shall expect r 4 
Lo, where Philosophy extends her sway, 
Guides future Navies o'er the trackless way- 
More voluble and firm ; so, strong in thought, 
The royal Synod Atwood (//) sate and taught. 

With 

The reader is referred to Dr. Herschell's most curious paper 
•' On the Nature and Construction of the Sun and Fixed Stars." 
Phil. Trans. Part I. 1 795. 

(g) Edward Waring, M. D. professor of the Mathematics 
in the University of Cambridge. (1797.) 

{h) See a Paper in the Philos. Trans. 1796. Part I. entitled 
il The Construction and Analysis of geometrical propositions 
determining the positions assumed by homogeneal bodies which 
float freely and at rest on a fluid surface, also determining the 
stability of shifts and other floating bodies, by George Atwood, 
Esq. F. R. S," The R. S. presented Mr. Atwood with their 
medal on this occasion. 

The names of Herschell, Atwood, Maskelyne, Cavendish^ 
Woollaston, Milner, &c. dignify the Royal Society. We 
have yet some '« Master Builders in the Sciences,'* as Mr. 
Lock* once expressed himselft (Preface to his Essay on t&p 
Si-U.) (1797.) 



f 437 J 

With England's Bard, with Cowper, who shall vie ? 
Original in strength and dignity ; 6iq 

With more than painter's fancy blest, with lays 
Holy, as saints to heaven expiring raise. (/) 

Heard you that Hermit's strain from Scotia borne, 

" For virtue lost, and ruin'd man I mourn ?" (k) 

Who may forget thee, Beattie ? who supply 

The tale half-told of Edwin's minstrelsy ? (/) 

A voice 

(/) William Cowper, Esq. Author of " The Task.-' Tom 
M«<r««v \spm cWr! Such are the words of the divine Ascrsean. 
in his Theogonia, Of these Muses seated on our own Parnassus 8 
it may be said, 

. " There did they sit, and do their holy deed, 
That pleas'd both heaven and earth." 

Bisbop Hall's Satires. B. i. S. fi. 

The conclusion of the Poet's work is so sacred, so dignified, 

so unequalled in simplicity and unaffected piety, that I hope 

none will read it without those sensations, and without that 

improvement, it seems designed to inspire. 

" But all is in his hand whose praise I seek; 
In vain the Poet sings and the world hears, 
If he regard not, though divine the theme. 
5 Tis not ih artful measures, in the chime 
And idle tinkling of a minstrel's lyre, 
To charm his ear. who looks upon the heart: 
Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain, 
Whose approbation — prosper even mine.'* 
(k) A line from Beattie's Minstrel, B. 2. 
(/) James Beattie, L.L.D. Author of " The Minstrel, a 
E e 3 Poem 



[ 43§ ] 

A voice from Coila o'er the furrow'd field 
Bewails the fountain shut, the volume seal'd ! (m) 
The throbs of Genius struggling to be great ; 
The cheerless, chilling damp of lowly fate ; 620 
The home-bred conscious Worth, untaught to bend 
At the shrugg'd shoulder of a pitying friend ; 
The pang that rends the madd'ning breast unknown; 
And Poverty's unutterable groan ; 
The Vision bursting on the patriot soul, 
Superior, unsubdued, beyond control, 
With all the prophet's, all the poet's rage, 
High-beaming o'er the unperishable page ; 62 8 

The 

Poem in two Books." It is for ever to be regretted that this 
true Poet and most excellent man has left his admirable Poem 
unfinished. My mind dwells upon it with rapture, particularly 
on the first part, even from my boyish days at school. 

(m) See the animated Preface to the first edition, printed at 
Kilmarnock, of the Poems by Robert Burns the Ayrshire 
Ploughman, an original, national Poet. The words of Burns 
are these : " The following trifles are not the production of 
" the poet who, with all the advantages of learned art, and 
*' perhaps amid the elegancies and idlenesses of upper life, looks 
*' down for a rural theme, with an eye to Theocritus and Virgil. 
" To the Author of this, these and other celebrated names 
*' their countrymen are, at least in their original language, 
" A fountain shut up y and a book sealed" &c. &c. Burns, in one 
©f his Letters, calls himself i( The Voice of 'Coila ;" i. e, of JCyIe 9 
a district of Ayrshire. 



[ 439 ] 

The Muse indignant mark'd, yet haiPd the day : 

And while her Burns pour'd forth his native lay, 

Bright with the redd'ning Holly grac'd his head, 

And threw her mantle o'er the Ploughman's weed, (n) 

Yet 

(.«) The public have now been gratified with a complete 
collection of Burns's works in verse and prose, which is a most 
valuable addition to British literature. Tt is difficult to speak 
in terms of commendation adequate to the tempered zeal, critical 
judgment, and discerning benevolence which induced the 
ingenious Dr. Currie to undertake the office of Editor, during 
the arduous and honourable discharge of his most important 
profes ion. 

The character of Robert Burns, his Life, his merits, and his 
most deplorable frailties, have been considered and appreciated 
in the most candid, interesting, and impartial manner by hi? Brother 
Gilbert Burns, by Dr. Currie, Dr. Stewart, and Dr. Adair; but 
by none with more felicity and elegance than by a Lady of a 
refined and classical taste, polite accomplishments, and culti- 
vated genius who knew him well, and proved herself his 
friend and patron. They have extenuated nothing, but 
have spoken of, him as he was; and their narratives raise 
alternately our admiration and our regret. They paint his 
principles and his conduct at perpetual variance, with a certain 
turbulence of disposition and passion to which every temptation 
was ruinous, and every indulgence fatal, 

JE^tua? ingens 
Imo in corde pudor, mistoque insania luctu, 

Et FURI1S AGITATUP AMOR, £T CONSCIA VIRTUS ! 

I think that greater liberality might have been prudently 
exerted to obtain an adequate employment, and a safe as well 
as hcnourable support lor a man destined to bear up the full 
fame and dignity of the Poet of Scotland, who had described 

E e 4 hinfceli 



[ 44o ] 

Yet mark, each willing Muse where Boydell draws, 
And calls the sister pow'rs in Shakspeare's cause ! 

By 

himself to his Countrymen (and can they now read the words 
without barren shame and passionate remorse ?) as " half-mad t 
half-fcd^and* half-sarkit" than by the arrange and unaccountable 
occupation which they conferred on him. That all the noble 
and learned Chemists of the North could not discover, in the 
whole table of affinities, a more sympathetic ink for a poet than 
that of an Exciseman, may excite something between a smile 
and indignation in the less-enlightened South. It might even 
now draw iron tears down the poetical cheeks of the Maecenas 
cf Scotland, the Right Honourable Henry Dundas. 

As to the originality of Burns's genius and of his command- 
ing faculties there can be but one opinion. To the harmony 
and force of his English verse every ear assents with 
delight ; and to his Scottish poetry his countrymen have borne 
that decisive testimony which natives alone can confer. But 
the greatest effort of his genius is displayed in The Vision, 
^vhich raises itself in a preeminence paramount to all, 
as the Cypress among the Shrubs. I scarce except that most 
pathetic and interesting poem, the Cotter's Saturday Night* 

But the volume of his Letters, and indeed almost all his prose- 
writings, must be considered as a phcenomenon in the literature 
of armtic. It seems, I think it is taken generally, the style of a 
cultivated gentleman who haslived and conversed with ease in the 
higher circles of society, manly, correct, eloquent, and affecting. 

But I am told, that to estimate the character of Burns with 
justice, we should have seen him in his happier hours, and 
marked the dignity of his natural deportment, the animation 
of his eye, and the power of his colloquial language. 

His 

* Haif-cloathed, or rather half-shirted. See the Scotch Glos- 
sary. The words are taken from the poem called, " The Vision" 
Part i. 



[ 44i ] 

By art controll'd the fire of Reynolds breaks, 
And Nature's pathos in her Northcote speaks ; 
The Grecian forms in Hamilton combine, 
Parrhasian grace, and Zeuxis* softest line ; 
There Barry's learning meets with Romney's strength, 
And Smirke portrays Thalia at full length, {mi) 640 

Lo, Fuseli (in whose tempestuous soul 
The unnavigable tides of Genius roll,) 
The surge of sulph'rous fire, the smould'ring light. 
The bridge chaotic o'er the abyss of Night, 
With each accursed form, and mystic spell 
Depicts, and " bears up all the fame of Hell !" (0) 

While 

His sentiments, the flash and out-hreah of a fiery mind, often 
republican but always patriotic, and with the old national 
attachment yet unextinguished in his breast, claim our admira- 
tion or excuse rather than our censure, in a man of sucb 
overbearing powers and talents out of their place. 

His track, where'er the Poet rov'd, 

Glory pursu'd, and generous shame, 

The unconquerable mind, and Freedom's holy flame ! 

(Nov. 1800.) 

{nn) The Shakspeare Gallery, under the auspices of 
Boydell and Nicol. - 

I would jnscribe the following words on the facade of the 
Gallery under the figure of Shakspeare ; 

MuSARUM MONITA, ET DEUS AUCTOR APOLLO ! (Nov. I 8oO.) 

(0) The expressions of Chaucer on the Poet Claudian in the 
House of Fame B. 3. v. 468. (p. 468. Urry's Edit.) and now 

transferred 



[ 442 ] 
While WestalFs pencil to the latest age 
With milder beams irradiates Milton's page. r oo) 

\ For Athens Cumberland (fi) seems born alone, 

To bid her comic Patriot be our own. 650 

High 

transferred to " the Milton Gallery" by Fuseli. Bat 
who may speak of the secrets of the abyss thus disclosed by this 
mighty Pa-nter under the mingled inspiration of Dante, Michael 
Angelo, and his greac Original? Dante alone i he indeed 
might say in language labouring for a vent; 

*' S' io avessi le rime e aspre e chiocce, 

Come si coiwerrebbe al tristo buco, 

Io premerei di mio concetto il suco 

Piii pienamente ; ma perch' io non 1'abbo, 

Non senza tema a dicer mi conduce, 

Che non e impresa da pigliare a gabbo 

Descriver fondo a tutto l' Universo !*' Inf. C. 32* 

Such is the JienaVs savage dignity, when a Painter, like Fuseli s 
marches in the footsteps of sovereign poets \ 
u Negli alti vestigi 

De' gran Cantor' alia maestra strada !" (Nov. 1800.) 

(00) The magnificent edition of Milton by Boydell and Nicol* 
with the designs of that rising Genius, Westall. Musarum 
roNA ! 

(/i) Richard Cumberland, Esq. an author of various 
talents, and of very considerable learning. It is scarcely 
necessary to enumerate his compositions, in particular his. 
dramatic works, which have received the sanction of public 
esteem. In my opinion he has done very great service, as 4 
writer, to the cause of morality and of literature; but I must 
except hisNovels, in which there is indeed much to blame, and 
very little to commend. 



E 443 ] 
High from the climes of Latium's happier day 
The Muse on Roscoe [pf] darts her noontide ray j 
And with each soft, each reconciling pow'r, 
Sheds gleams of peace on Melmoth's (q) closing hour. 

Lo, 

He is the author of a work called " The Observer," and from 
the translations, in that work, of the fragments of the Greek 
comic writers, I believe all learned readers will agree, that he 
is the only man in the kingdom (with whom we are publicly 
acquainted) equal to the translation of Aristophanes. I wish 
it were to be the amusement of his retired hours. I shall never 
think he has been " public too long;" but as he has quitted 
the stage, (as he has affirmed himself, though Poets sometimes 
will make false impressions^) such a translation would be an 
easy, yet an adequate and honourable employment for a man of 
unquestionable genius, versatility of talents, and knowledge 
of the world, and a consummate master of the poetical language 
of our best ancient dramatic writers. Let us hope that 
Aristophanes may yet be our own. (July 1 797 ) 

(/t/i) William Roscoe, Esq. the historian of Lorenzo de Medici 
called the Magnificent. See the P. of L. Dialogue III. at the 
conclusion. 

($) William Melmoth, Esq. a most elegant and distin- 
guished writer, " near half an age with every good man's praise." 
His translation of Cicero and Pliny will speak for him while 
Roman and English eloquence can be united. Mr Melmoth is 
a happy example of the mild infiuenre of learning on a culti- 
vated mind, I mean of that learning which is declared to be the 
aliment of youth, and the delight and consolation of declining 
years. Who would not envy this " fortunate old man" 
jjs most finished translation and comment on Tully's Cato ? 

or 



[ 444 ] 
£,o, Grant a hails (what need the Sage to name?) 

Her lov'd lapis on the banks of Cam ; (r) 

While 

or rather, who would not rejoice in the reined and mellowed 
pleasures of so accomplished a gentleman, and so liberal a 

scholar? (1797.) 

(r) I wish, and every Etonian and every member of the 
University of Cambridge of good character will join me heart 
and hand) that this great, disinterested, virtuous, and consum- 
Ma e Scholar and Physician, now by learning and religion 
conducted with dignity to the close of life, may be known by 
this affectionate verse to all posterity, 

" .The lovd Iapis on the banks of Cam." 

Dus d.lecte Senex, te Jupiter aequus oportet 
Nascentem, et miti lustrarit lumine Phoebus 
Atlantisque nepos ; neque cnim nisi char us ah ortu 
Diis super is peter it magna fwvisse poette. 
' Hinc longaeva viret lento sub ilore Senectus, 
^Nondum deciduos servans tibi frontis honores, 
Ingeniuraque <vigens, et adultum mentis acumen* 
Ergo ego te Clius et magni nomine Phcebi 
Manse Pater, jueeo longum salvere per jevum ! 

Milton ad Mansum. 
I know not what should restrain me on this occasion. For the 
eternal honour of the University of Cambridge, in this our age* 
to tne following names which I have selected with the severest 
judgment of which I am capable, Gray, Hurd, Ogden, 
Balguy, and Bryant, I will add the name of her Diltctus 
Japis — Robert Glynn ! 

TaNTO HOMINI FIDUS, TA.NTJE VIRTUTIS AMATOR, 

(Nov. 17^7.) 

I am now to record with a deep and affectionate regret, 

the departure of this great man, for such he was, *' Vir vere 

magnusj 



C 445 

While to the goal in their sublime career 

Bryant and Burke (rr) the torch triumphant bear. 

Whence 

magnus, si quid magni habent pietas, probitas, fides, sumrna 
eruditio, par modestia, mores sanctiss!!™." In the midst of bis own 
Athens, where he had lived from youth to extreme age, uniformly 
and consistently, in benevolence and beneficence, as a scholar, 
a well-bred gentleman, a phyfician, and a Christian, honoured, 
revered, and beloved, there he fell. The Ministers of religion 
and the directors of the public instruction have paid their 
appropriate tribute to his memory; be it mine to adapt and 
inscribe in Grecian simplicity on this humble but, as I hope, 
enduring Cenotaph the words of the primal Historian; 

TsXevm rs Ct* Xa/x7TpOTarw evsyevsvo' ycxi /u,tv A&wouoi i^iai 
(IHTPON avrm TON ATAIIHTON) du^ocv &v*f r^ntf 

£7TE<7S 9 XOOl ETl(JW<TaV {ASyocXuS !* 

Hail and Farewell ! (Nov. 1800.) 

(rr) It is to be wished, that these two great men may nvm 
conclude their political and literary labours. «' Finem dignum et 
Optimo viro et opere sanctissimo faciant !" (£) (1797.) 

Since writing the above, when I heard of the death of that 

unequalled man, the Rt. Hon. Edmund Burke, (c) I could 

only say to my friend, 

H y*o£ka. 



* Herodot. L. 1. Sect. 30. (b) Quintil. Lib. 12. Cap. 11. 

(c) July 1797.— See Mr, Burke's character, in u The Imperial 
Epistle from Kien Long, Emperor of China, to George the Third 
of Great Britain," v. 117. page 19. Edit. 8vo. As far as 
depends upon me, the words of Pindar shall be verified on this 
ssost illustrious man I 







I 



Whence is that groan ? no more Britannia sleeps 
But o'er her lost Musseus (s) bends and weeps. 66© 

Lo 5 

H fAxKot Xwyp&is- 

Karxi IIHAEi AH2 ! 

Such was my veneration for this Great Man, when livings 
such is the depth of my homage, and the secret affliction of my 
spirit at his departure. It appears to me expedient and grateful* 
that we should all remember and revere the man to whose 
frimary exertions (it cannot be repeated too frequently ) we origh 
nally owe the public sense of the moral, political, and religious 
danger of England from the grand Caeal, grounded and rooted' 
in France, and branching out and overshadowing all Europe. 
We cannot indeed, without much reflection, understand the full 
nature and extent of the public obligation to Mr. Burke. 

I would not vindicate any man from the cradle to the grave % 
much less a politician and a statesman. The very region of Poli- 
tics is baneful ; for it is too frequently, " the soil the Vices like.'* 
Every Statesman, in or out of power, knows his own meanness, 
the turbulence of his passions, the rattles of office, the irritation 
of opponents, the jealousy of rank, and the impatience of 

consorted power. 

AH 

ToV pOSV UTS QotVOVT* AoiSzi 

EXt7rovr'* ccXkoc '01 

Tla-pa, T6 7TVpcZV TCZ.(pOV 

€)' Kxixoovioci <7rtzpQ&voi 

JLvrav, E7H Qpvivov ts < nokv$a.y*m zffivav. E5o£eP 

Apa, y AQocvarois 

ILg-Xov yz <IWc& Kdi <p9j/x,syov v&vois ©sav Itio^zv. 

Find. Isth, O. S. 



C 447 ' ] 
Lo, every Grecian, every British Muse 
Scatter the recent flowers, and gracious dews, 
Where Mason lies ; he sure their influence felt, 
And in his breast each soft affection dwelt, 
That love and friendship know ; each sister art, 
With all that Colours, and that Sounds impart, 
All that the sylvan theatre can grace, 
Ail in the soul of Mason 6i found their place !" 
Low sinks the laurell'd head ; in Mona's land 
I see them pass, 'tis Mador's drooping band, 670 
To harps of woe in holiest obsequies, 
" In yonder grave, they chant, our Druid lies'!" 

He 



All this is true: but still, when I have revolved the various 
labours of Edmund Burke, and the cause he has main- 
tained, (as it generally regards government, religion, and 
society, not the details of the war and it's conduct) I say, with this 
allowance for the feverous frailty of the passions, and the taint 
of mortality in all our best actions, I would record in lasting 
characters, and in our holiest and .most honourable temple, the 
departed Orator of England, the Statesman, and the Christian^ 
Edmund Burke! C( Remuneratio ejus Cum Altissimo !'' 
(^797) 

(0 The Rev. William Mason, M. A. author of Elfrida, 
Caractacus, Musaeus a Monody on Mr. Pope, The English 
garden, &c. &c. &c. &c, . v 



f 448 ] 

Hs (ss) too, whom Indus and the Ganges mour% 
The glory of their banks, from Isis torn, 
In learning's strength is fled, in judgment's prime, 
In science temp'rate, various, and sublime. 
To him familiar every legal doom 
The courts of Athens, or the halls of Rome, 
Or Hindoo Vedas taught $ for him the Muse 
Distill'd from every flow'r Hyblsean dews ; 680 

Firm, when exalted ; in demeanour grave $ 
Mercy and truth were his, he lov'd to save. 
His mind collected > at opinion's shock 
Jones stood unmov'd, and from the Christian rock, 
Coelestial brightness beaming on his breast, 
He saw the star, and worshipp'd in the East. 

Tliou too, Octavius, that dread hour must feel, 
Nor eloquence, nor wit, nor patriot zeal, 
Nor piety sincere without the show, 
Nor every grace Pierian pow'rs bestow 690 

From 



(ss) Sir Whliam Jones. One of the Judges of the 
Supreme Court of Judicature m Bengal, &c. &c. &c. &<u 



. t 449 ] 
From pure llyssus, and the Latian shore, 
What Swift, or great Erasmus felt before, 
May save thee ! — yet, yet long, so friendship calls. 
May guardian angels hover round the walls, 
Where love and virtue fix their blest abode, 
Friend of thy country, servant of thy God ! (s) 

Octavius yes, it is, it shall be mine, 
With praise appropriate (b) still to grace my line ; 

To 



(s) In this political and depressing period, it is some comfort 
to divert the attention for a moment to such characters of 
Jiterary and poetical excellence as The Rev. William Mason, 
and Sir William Jones; and to be able to add my own Octavius. 
Octavius Optimus, are the legitimate words of Horace. 

With an allowance for the partiality of friendship, (and who 
that ever felt such an affection will refuse to grant it ?) and with 
sorrow that no<w he must neither be understood nor named, I assert 
with truth, that Octavius is formed to move among the 
highest and the foremost in the State, though contented and 
submitting to act in a station, certainly not without honour, yet 
inadequate to his faculties. " Exornet atatis nostra gloriam/" 
0797-) 

(b) It is pleasing and satisfactory to think, that all the books 
which are absolutely required to strengthen, exalr, purify, and 
inform the understanding, and consequently to correct and 

F f enlarge 



t 450 ] . 

To mark where Genius soars, beyond control, 

Wiffi 

enlarge the affections and the heart, are of easy access and of 
easy price. With the luxury of learning and the modern 
elegance of types and paper, I have nothing to do, but earnestly 
to deprecate all neediest extravagance, and brilliant folly in neiv 
publications, if they are designed to be of service to the world, 
and to be purchased. 

The august and sublime monuments of religion and of genius 
may be adorned without blame, or rather with great commenda- 
tion. When the Bible, Shakspeare, and Milton appear in all 
the splendour of typographic art, and the magnificence of deco-» 
ration from the pencil, who does not feel a secret pride in the 
honour reflected on the discerning liberality of his country ? 
Such boGks may be considered as typographical pictures of 
eminent artists. Pictures however are not necessary for the clo- 
set of a student ; but they are designed to adorn the museums of 
a nation or an university, and to dignify the repositories of the 
opulent and patrician literati. Atticus is magnificent in such 
patronage, though Rutilus may incur some censure. This is a 
noble and laudable use of the superfluityof wealth ; and it is also 
political in the highest degree. In times like these men of 
talents and genius, when unemployed and let loose upon the 
world, become too frequently the pests of society, and the canker 
worms of the community. 

It is indeed high time to awake out of sleep, and to discern the 
peculiar use of every blessing. In all our actions we should 
have a view to the stability of society, and of well-regulated 
government. It becomes us all to observe and separate the 
essential and unvarying laws of order from the principles of 
confusion, and the dictates of sound sense from the wildness 
fcf ungoverned fancy, and of presumptuous intellect. Thus 

may 



[ 45 1 1 

With Mantuan judgment and the Theban soul ; 
Correct, majestic, copious, full, and strong, 70 1 
In arts, in arms, in eloquence, or song ; 
Still proud to vindicate unseen, unknown, 
The State, the Laws, the Altar, and the Throne. 

OCTAVIUS. 

may the grand end and aim at last be effected ; and we may, by 
choice and conviction, turn from lying vanities to the spirit of 
truth and of life. (1797.) 

(e) The advice of Octavius is good, but not applicable to a 
man so insignificant as his friend. But to men of knowledge 
and of ability in every department of life it is of deep 
importance. I lament and am indignant, when I think of suck 
a scholar as Dr. Parr, and the waste of erudition and talents. 
Let him stand for a genus. 

*' Knowledge alone is not our proper happiness : men of deep 
research and of curious enquiry should just be put in mind, not 
to mistake <wbat they are doing. " But we may all remember, that 
as the love of letters may make us unsociable, so the love of 
society may make us illiterate* 

The want of discretion and prudence has ruined more men 
of learning and genius than the time would allow me to 
mention. Without this sobriety of intellect nothing is strong, 
nothing is great. Without this prudence, without this discern- 
ment of time and circumstance, and the habit of regularity^ 
without an attention to the decencies of society and of common 
life, and of the principles by which all men, however gifted, 
must indiscriminately be conducted,, all our attainments are 
nothing worth : they will never procure us esteem or respecta- 
bility among men. The world will but smile at such scholars; 

Ff 2 and 



[ 45* 1 

OCTAVIUS. 

Here close the strain ; and o'er your studious hour 

May 

and ministers, when called upon to promote them, will tell you 
not without reason, " they are not producible"* 

Let me give two passages on this subject, one from Milton, 

the other from Dr. Johnson, variously applicable and of deepest 

consequence. 

" He who reads 

Incessantly, and to his reading brings not 

A spirit ancT judgment equal or superior, 

Uncertain and unsettled still remains, 

Deep versed in books, and shallow in himself, 

Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys, 

As children gathering pebbles on the shore. 9 * 

P.R. b.4. v. 322, 

To men of genius (as at least they are called) Dr. Johnson 

gave this solemn admonition : " This relation (of the life of 

* { Savage) will not be wholly without it's use, if those who, in 

" confidence of superior capacities or attainments, disregard the 

" common maxims of life, shall be reminded that nothing will supply 

* l the want of prudence, and that negligence and irregularity, 

91 long continued, will make knowledge useless, wit ridiculous* 

" and genius contemptible^ 

u Deign on the passing world to cast thine eyes, 

" And pause awhile from letters, to be wise." 

* The words of the Duke of Newcastle on such an occasion, 
when he was Prime Minister in George the Second's reign. 
They were spoken of a man, whose genius, talents, eloquence; 
and erudition honoured and supported the Church of England, 

And he was not promoted. 



[ 453 ] 
May truth preside, and virtue's holiest pow'r, 



From 



(/) No factions ever proceeded to attempt a revolution 
in any country, but first under the pretence and through the 
Medium of a Reform. We have been told with effrontery 
and with falshood, that the Constitution of England exists only 
in the imagination ; yet we may read the Bill of Rights. The 
fact is this. Modern framers of political constitutions will 
never be satisfied, till they are laid down like the elements of 
mathematics in the manner of Euclid. Definitions, axioms, 
postulates, primary propositions, and subsequent propositions, 
built upon and proved by the preceding, with corollaries and 
deductions. 

One strange writer, (perhaps it is the first time the reader 
ever heard of him) says, " a Constitution must be produced 
entire, and at the same time ; it must be simple in it's construction, 
and perfect in all it's parts ." * I had fondly thought that 
Lord Bacon had distinguished the works of nature from those of 
art, in that masterly and memorable sentence, " Natura omnium 
partium rudimenta, simul parit et procreat. 1, f I suppose a 
political Constitution is the work of human art. Indeed if Mr. 
Malkin were describing a perfect poem, epic or tragic, he could 
not have expressed himself more critically. 

Thus it is, that our present theoretical writers sport with man 
and his passions. They certainly consider us all as passive 

F f 3 machines, 

* Malkin's Essays on Civilization, 8vo. (1795) p. 122. 
f Bacon de Augm. Scient, 



[ 454 ] 
From that bright source, whence bliss celestial 



springs, 



Rising 

o 



machines, and they apply their laws, with as much cool indif* 
.fere nee to their fejjtaw-creai s, ■' wj h -is Iittje, feeling, as 
they would apply the ax*, jt any mechanical instrument, to lop 
a tree or to raise a weiga; Tii : r systems uniformly proceed 
on this principle ; they never v-a • mercy is pot in all their 

thought?. There is no allowance ror human frailty, no revision 
of judgment; man has offenaed. nd e must d:e the death. 
Gncssius haec Rhada man thus habit ptiaissiMA regna. We 
have all seen and fek, 'what the • ^ypjutionary principle is, 

u In (a) the present state of civil society, "nd of political ordeF 
so wisely established, so vigorously maintained*, and sp honourably 
recommended in this stui flourishing, opulent, and powerful 
kingdom, it is difficult to restrain the emotion of the breast, 
and the indignation of the understanding, at the nefarious and 
desolating principles of modern philosophy and political 
theories. The arms, the instruments, and the agents are before 
vis, and are now fully understood. It was the strong language 
of Cicero; " Demonstro vitia ; tollite : denuncio vim, arma; 
•' removete." (£) We woulji recover the health which is gone ? 
and the soundness which is lost. I am of opinion, thar they may 
both be recovered ; but we must all strive, in our several capa? 

cities, 

(a) " In the &c." This passage to page 459 at the corres* 
ponding mark ", is taken from a Note in the Poem called «' The 
Shade of Pope ;" to bring my sentiments on this great subject 
into one point of view before the reader. 

(£) Cic. Philipp. 1. Sect. 10. 



[ 455 ] 

Rising serene with healing in their wings ! 



Still 



cities, to direct the vessel of the pubtic mind, and of the national 
understanding, in a straight and undeviating course ; or, as it 
is well expressed in one of the Orphic fragments preserved by 

Clemens, (c) IQuvew Kpafims vospv xvro;* 

In the sublime but often fanciful theology, or as I would rather 
term it, the Theonomy, exhibited in the Timseus of Plato and more 
fully in the commentary of Proclus. his animated rival, we read of 
the EyKocrpuof ®soi, or superintending mundane deities. I would 
not insist upon the imaginary visions of any man, however great; 
but m the way of adaptation, they have often a force and analogy, 
which is neither unpleasing nor unfruitful. I am sure the pre- 
sent modern philosophical writers, such as Condorcet and his 
mongrel disciples in England, Godwin and others^ have no 
pretensions to the reverence of mankind, as mundane deities. 
Their aim is not to exalt the soul of man, but to depress and 
degrade it to the b^ast, or in Sir Thomas More's indignant 
language, " ad pecnini corpusculi vjlitatem.'" (d) 

It is remarkable that Sir Thomas More, in his Republic of 
Utopia, declared that a person who entertained and professed 
such sentiments as the modern philosophy holds forth and 
inculcates, was not worthy to be numbered among rational men, 
much less to be enrolled among the Citizens. His reason was 
this ; that a contempt of all laws and of all institutions was 3 
necessary consequence of such opinions, when uncontrolled. 
His words are remarkable: ic Ilium ne hominum quidem 

F f 4 ducunt 

(<r) Clement. Alexandria L. 5. p. 443. &d. Lugd.Bat, 1616, 
(«/') Mori Utopia, L. 2. 



[ 456 ] 

Still be your knowledge temp'rate and (e) discreet, 

Though 

clucunt numero, fantum alsst ut inter Ci<ves potiant, quorum 
instituta moresque, si per met urn lkeat % omnes fioccifacturus sit."* 
Now we have lived to see, that/^ar has not restrained such Citin 
stent as Mr. Godwin and others ; and they have accordingly 
vilified, set at nought, and held out to contempt the laws, the 
religion, the manners, and the institutions of their country, 
which defends and protects them, in conformity to the opinion 
of Sir Thomas More. Such Citizens maintain the doctrines of 
dissolution, not of compact; and we see the frame and body 
of Society dropping into pieces member after member, when the" 
principle of continuity is withdrawn. " Nigidium vidi; 
Cratippum cognovi."t 

Men of the greatest minds and of the widest intellectual view 
have, perhaps too frequently, indulged themselves in forming 
Utopian Republics, and have often unadvisedly dwelt too much 
upon the unavoidable evils of Society. Such pure spirits are 
naturally offended with every species of evil, But when such 
men, as Sir Thomas More, suffer their minds to be amused (I 
fear it is but an amusement at best) with speculative or imaginary 
political excellence, or rather with the dreams of perfection, how 
different are their/rinci/zles, and the result of their thoughts, from 
those of sciolists and sophists. We all regret the loss of that 
Republic, which the genius of Cicero had constructed. There 
are indeed a few noble fragments of the building, preserved by 
Lactantius, Macrobius, and Augustine ; though the plan of the 
entire edifice by the hand of that consummate practical States- 
man and experienced Philosopher, cannot be traced from the 

remains. 

* Mori Utopia, Lib. 2. p. 234. Ed. Glasg. 1750. 
*j- Cicero in Timaeo, Fragm. de Universitate, Sect, 5. 



C 457 3 

Though not as Jones sublime, as Bryant great ; 710 

With 

remains. I believe he would have corrected many of the errors 
of Plato. 

But it is not without it's use to compare, (if we have leisure, 
and as far as we may compare them) the work of the sublimest 
Heathen Philosopher with that of the Christian Statesman Sir 
Thomas More. I speak upon the whole; for 1 am sensible 
of their errors, particularly in the Athenian; yet when we 
think of Plato, we must not forget the state of the Heathen 
world antecedent to Christianity. But nevertheless, these 
great men proceeded upon the true dignity of the human 
mind, when undebased by vice ; and bottomed their opinions 
upon the most solid science. Their views were large, com- 
prehensive, connected ; they knew the nature and the state 
of man ; and they saw what it would admit, and what it would 
not bear. When they proposed some amendment, or some 
institution which did not then exist, it was in the way of 
suggestion, and not of dogmatical imposition. They never 
moved through the state, with the sword and the scythe in their 
hands. What they saw, was with the eye of a well-instructed 
mind, long prepared by study and exercised in discernment. 

These persons, in their generations, were indeed among the 
superintending mundane deities of their country. Not so the 
modern Directors of human affairs; though they aspire to be 
thought, and to act, as the gods of this nether world. They 
would sit with the thunderbolt in their hands, and the storms 
under their feet; yet even Mythology condemns them, and 
points to her Salmoneus. But we stand not on the ground of 
fable; for what is the most extended and the most desolating power 
S»f tyrant and of rampant wickedness oh the earth, for a few 

days 



f 458 j 

With humble step explore the dubious way, 

Till 

days or a few years, before Him " who (for bis own inscrutable 
H purposes) putteth down and setteth up, and alone ruleth 
44 in the kingdoms of men !" 

The consideration of these modern philosophers offers also 
the strongest argument for the vigorous and unremitting pro- 
secution of ivell directed study, in all the public seats of education 
in these kingdoms. Plato declared, that one of the causes of 
atheism is. *• a certain ignorance very grievous, which 
notwithstanding has the appearance of the greatest wisdom. K (d) 
This apparent wisdom must be combated and overthrown 
by reason and erudition ; the fallacy must be pointed out, and 
the effect and end, when perfected, shewn to be death moral, 
mental, and political. 

These modern philosophers and politicians, sometimes tell us sneer- 
ing, and in scorn,thatthe code of Christians is the codeof equality: 
and they have attempted to shew this more than once. But surely 
we may ask; What is the nature of the equality held forth in 
the Christian Scriptures ? Is it not the equality of the creatures 
before the Creator? the equality of men before God, and 
vot before each other? They every where speak of the political 
distinctions and ranks in society. They ordain tribute to be 
paid to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom custom, honour 
to whom honour ; and they describe all lawful power, as 
derived from God. The great Founder of it himself acknow- 
ledged the image and superscription of Csesar ; his Apostles de-* 
clared the gradations of power, delegated by authority ; and they 

inculcate 

(d) AfAzQlZ. (AX\(Z XdXcTTTi C2X«7* uvzt /xsyidTvi (ppoWGis* 

Plato de Leg. L. 10. 



L 459 I 
Till Reason's beams dissolve in perfect day. 

Prepared 

Inculcate submission to the ordinances of man, for the Lord's 
sake; to the King, as Supreme; to Governors and Magistrates, 
as unto them who are sent by him. Is this the political equality 
of the boasted deliverers or oppressors of the world ? How 
long shall vre suffer the tyrant, the blasphemer, the disorganizing 
Sophist, to triumph and to deceive us? 

Wipen indeed the modern systems are delineated, and the 
chart of the opinions and doctrines laid out in departments, £ 
would again ask, What is the Picture? What are the objects? 
Are the things recommended and enforced, either true, or 
honest, or just, or pure, or lovely, or of good report? Is tlieie 
any thing to be found and felt, but insolent domination, 
sanguinary and unrelenting ordinances, and the tyrannical 
suppression and overthrow of every existing institution? 
Throughout the whole of their systems, Is there any virtue, 
or any praise, or any motive, which the good can approve, and 
the wise ratify?" 

In this present time we must never for a moment forget, that 
THE OBJECT OF Fr. a NCE, from her first Revolution, has been" 
AND IS TO CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT IN EVERY SlATE 

in Europe, and in every other /i art of the world which she can 
pervade, or influence. 

W T ide o'er the trembling nations from afar, 
See Gallia breathes the living cloud of war; 
And where the deluge bursts with sweepy sway, 
Their arms, their kings, their gods are rollM away! - 

Look in Germany, in Belgium, in Italy, in Switzerland, in 
Spain, in Egypt, in the isles of the Eastern or of , the Western 
Archipelago j cast your view, broad and unrestrained, from the 

dominions 



[ 46o ] 
Prcpar'd to prove (/) in Senate, or the Hall, 

That 

dominions of the Porte to the banks of the Ohio or the 
Missisippi, not a state, not a fortress, not a work, not a fragment 
of nature or of art, not a cliff, not a torrent, not a precipice, 
but has felt the shock and impulse of revolutionary terror. 
Abyisus abysium invocat ! One deep has called upon another, 
the winds have blown the signal of encounter, and the cataracts 
are roaring and conflicting; or in the resounding language of 
the poet of Panopolis, * 

2wsp%op<,=va>y vaQcCov fj,vKr,ropi pofx^co 
UpoitTCcm Qapv'S&zos eCopcCsey oy^Qpioc, nyju \ ' 

I rawst claim excuse and indulgence for my expressions, \f 
indeed it can be required at an hour like the present. My 
mind is either borne down, or hurried away with the terrors of 
impending desolation, the overthrow, or the confusion of fixed, 
regulated, established government. My sensations are solitary ; 
but they are deep, Tw -^vywi /X8 hsfflgrai 1Po[aQzigc 9 

I have indeed the consolation of affectionate and honourable 
friendship, and I am not without the approval of a few who 
are wise and good ; but I cannot say, that " in my life time 
I have had too much of noise and compliment. f" I have 
risen in silence j and in peace and privacy it is my desire to set ft 

and 

* Nonnus Dionys. Lib. 41. v. 84, p. 1059. Edit. Hanov. 161a. 

f An expression in the affecting Will of the Rt. H. Edmund 
Burke. What declaration, what testimony, what experience 
will convince us of the " Vera bona, atque iliis muitum diveisa^ 
remota erroris nebula ?" 



[ 4 6 1 1 

That states by learning rise, by learning fall $ 

Serene 

and to depart. But can any of us see what we have seta, 
and not labour to avert it from our own country ? If I 
could conceive a man of less political significance than 
myself, (not from my endeavours, but from my situation,) I 
would call even on him for assistance. But I would also add 
still more fervently, that if all and each of us, who feel the 
time, and the power of these days of darkness and of desolating 
tyranny, can be persuaded in the spirit of seriousness and of 
temperate national piety, " to offer up prayers and supplications, 
with strong cries unto Hm, who is yet able to save us 
from death ;*' who knows, but that " We may yet be 
heard, in that we have feared ?" 

The object^ the undiverted object of France is the overthrow 
of England! Nos Nostra que, the form of our governments 
the fundamental lazvs, and the principles by -which property is acknota* 
ledged, and secured. These have been attacked by assault, 
by storm, by breach, by sedition, by the arms of ribaldry, of 
obscenity, of blasphemy. At one time they open upon us the 
floodgates of treason and madness, at another they sap the 
foundation by a circuitous stream winding and working 
unperccived. We appeal to facts and actions, not to promises, 
and declarations. They know that a Revolution can alone be 
effected by the process, intrigues, and cabals of political Reformers* 
there is no other mode. I speak not of conquest by war. 

A State may prove bankrupt ; but I would inculcate one 
truth with pecular earnestness, namely that, a revolution is 
not the necessary consequence of bankruptcy. I view 
with fear the finances of Great Britain, but not without a- 

rational 



C 462 ] . 

Serene, not senseless, through the awful storm, 

ta 

rational hope of final, though tardy restoration. * The pro- 
posal of Reform is my specific apprehension. I would 

strenuous!/ 

* In the year 1740, Lord Bolingbroke wrote to Sir W. 
Wyndham on the state of public affairs, during the Secession 
from Parliament. 

" The British Constitution of Government is at a g#eat 
crisis, which must turn either to life or death. The disease can- 
not be long borne. God knows whether the remedies can. J> 
Coxe's Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole. Correspondence, 
vol. %. p. 351. Fifty eight years have passed since this was 
written. The state of the National Debt at that period, and 
the danger of Jacobitism, may be compared with the burthen 
of the present time, and the horrors of French Jacobinism* 
The present Seceders from Parliament will do well .to consider 
their predecessors in this ridiculous, or rather wicked, scheme. 
Bolingbroke. in a subsequent letter to Sir W. Wyndham, says ; 
" The Jacobite party in Britain is an un- organized \umip of inert 
*' matter, without a principle of life or action in it, capable of 
" mobility perhaps but more capable of divisibility, and utterly 
" void of spontaneous motion ." * 

If it were possible to describe a party by it's opposite 
qualities, how curious and fearful is it to contrast the Jacobite 
Party with the modern French Jacobin Faction\n Great Britain, 
Whatever be it's size or dimension?, it is nothing but organi- 
zation, quick matter, life ana action, immobility in principle, full of 
spontaneous motion, one and indivisible. 

Sic funis Caci mens efftrra ; nee quid inausum 
Aut intractatum scelerisve doiive I 

* Coxe's Memoirs. Vol. 3. p. 555. 



C 463 3 

In principle sedate, to shun Reform j 

To 

strenuously resist all the proposers of Reform ; Mr. Pitt 
formerly, and Mr. Grey at present. I confess I never could 
understand the great Lord Chatham's celebrated expression of 
*' infusing a portion of new health into the constitution, to 
enable it to bear it's infirmities."' Junius (in his very last 
letter) calls it " brilliant and full of intrinsic wisdom." For 
my own part, I think it is but false glitter, and full of intrinsic 
nonsense, when applied politically. It is the mere rage of 
metaphor : it is to call the mind a sheet of white paper, till 
at last we are brought to think, the resemblance to be the very- 
thing signified. The use of metaphor is to illustrate, not to 
prove. 

Government, take it in any of it's complex form?, cam 
be carried on but in three ways: by unsullied principle and 
tindeviating virtue in the Governors, and perhaps in the 
people ; by force and terror ; or by mitigated law and influ- 
ence. Who does dot wish for the fiist ? Who expects to see 
it? In states highly civilized, the mixed mode of law and 
influence on the minds of free agents appears to me the only 
mode in which tranquillity, security, and general happiness 
can be tolerably preserved, with tiie allowance of human r 
I detest corruption, open or secret, as much as any man. But 
when I see an assembly formed on any principles however 
sublime, or deep, or disinterested, I remember it is formed of 
men. Menander said leng ago ; AvOqairog I txocwi 7rpo(pocats. 
It is man ; his name explains the rest. 

I never will consent to think, that Government is a matter 
of perpetual experiment. I would graft new regulations upon 
the old principles by a very gradual removal of what is absurd, 

obsolete^ 



t 464 ] 

To mark man's intellect, it's strength and bound, 

Nor 

obsolete, useless, or is an acknowledged incumbrance. It was the 
boast of Citizen Lord Stanhope, that he would teach the Judges 
law; and the Bishops religion. I have no such ambition : but at 
present I would recommend to Charles Abbott, Esq. M. P. the 
new Digester of our Laws, not to be too subtle in the process* 
Mr. Abbott is a gentleman of learning, virtue, ability, and 
upright conduct ; but in such a cause the best among us must 
be warned of the danger of experiment. c O koli^os o%v; t w Tcziptz. 
eQzXsp'/i, said the Father of Physic in the depth of his apho- 
rismic wisdom ; but surely caution is not timidity. It is not 
every political chemist who can throw off into his work the 
spirit of legislation, unmingled with the grosser dregs and fecu- 
lence of the mass. 

Let us «oiu, and at all times, be vigilant with determinate 
courage. We know, beyond the possibility of a doubt, 
nuhat freedom, what equality of power among the: citizen s 9 
what fraternity, what comfort, what happiness, and what 
security France has offered and given to all countries, which 
have either bowed voluntarily, or have been subjected, to her 
tyranny. 

Take Cicero's expressions. As to themselves ; *' Licet, quod 
videtur, publicum judicare ; quod judicaverint, vendere." 
As to other nations, friend or foe; " Perspici non potest, 
utrum severitas acerbior, an benignitas quastuosior sit." Such 
are the words in that elaborate and consummate Oration by 
Cicero on the Agrarian Law, which every man would do welL 
to read and consider in the original, or in a translation; for it 
is peculiarly pertinent to the present time. 

When 



[ 46 5 3 

Nor deem stability on change to found ; 



To 



When Demosthenes raised his mighty voice against a decree 
proposed by Aristocrates, he bespoke the attention of his 
audience as to a private man, who had neither part in the 
administration of the state, nor influence from his connections. 
He bespoke their favour on this ground; for he thought the 
interest of Athens was alone a sufficient plea, Egrsi&av syj 
nrojv. svoyXkivrajv tiroes, «£s rcov in<7ro\vrzv{j<v4m xai 7rurrwop,svtJv i 
ttgcq v[Ai'j wv, irpxy^oi rriXiK'srov (pr^t <$si%eiv iriirpa.yiJ.zvQv. * 
For my own part without atiy other pretensions , political or literary, 
than the love I feel to my country, her laws, her religion, her 
ordinances, and her government, and the labour I have exerted 
to understand and to preserve them, I would earnestly and 
affectionately remind my Countrymen in this perilous and > 
pressing hour, of the eloquent words of Demonax as they are 
recorded by Lucian ; " Constitutions and doctrines like these you 
*' uvill never decree ', //// you have first removed or overthrown the 
*' altar of mercy I" The words of the original are full 
of dignhy: Mtj irporzpov, oo AQnvocioi, ^(pKrsa-Qs, ccv yw. ra 
EAEOT rov Qa>iMv xa9sX»3Tfi. t (1797O 

(g) A celebrated saying of the famous Mirabeau, in the 
beginning of the French revolution. 

I would, in this concluding note, observe with great earnest- 
ness and affection to my Country, that in ail the departments 
of society, government, religion, or literature, the. French 
have at all times maintained one unvarying system of 
deception, when under the ancient monarchy, or now under 

G g the 



* Kieri ApiGTox paras-. Demosth. Ed. Gr. Benen. 1570. p. 403, 
f Lucian, Demonax.>p» £55. Ed* Fol. Bourdelptii, 



[ 466 ] 
To feel with Mirabeau, that " Words are Things/' (jfl 

While 

the iron, unrelenting tyranny of their new republic. Their 
manner of reasoning is and always has been sophistical ; we 
are in perpetual danger of being misled by the appearance of 
reason; and we have always ground for distrust. Takes 
specimen from thousands and tens of thousands of instances. 

Many years ago, in a collection entitled, *' Lettres Histo- 
ricities et Pulkiques," a French Statesman used these words to' 
Mr. D'AIembert. •" Je ne veux point admettre dans les arrets 
Ci de Conseil an vrai trivial, une clarte tro/z familiere. Je veux 
" an vrai de recherche, une clarte elegante, une naivete fine, 
*' toute brillante de termes pompeux, releves inopinement dc 
" phrases arrondies, de vocatifs intermediaires et d'adverbes 
6 * indcf.nis^* Nothing can be more characteristic of Trench 
Statesmen. Let them at first be sufficiently unintelligible, have 
their vocatifs inlermediaires and their adwerhes indefinis, and the 
business is done. They have language without meaning, phrases 
to blind the pecple, and ideas to delude them; but when the 
schen:e is accomplished, and <when they obtain the po<v:er, their 
language becomes perfectly intelligible. 

Next take an instance in- literature. Men of learning have 
always had a proper value for the Greek language, for reasons 
too obvious for me to state. In general the French are ignorant 
of it. Indeed Mr. Camus (the Deputy) some time ago published 
an edition of Aristotle f, ITc^i Zokwv, moderate enough as I 

thought 

* Leu. Hist, et Polit. Vol. 4. p. 176. 
f I know not whether the French have been taught by the 
Citizen Commentator Cam us to have recourse to -the metaphy- 
sics of Aristotle, when he declares that '* Equality is really 

Sameness,'* 



'• [ 467 3: 
While in Delusion's ear their magic rings, 

Through 



o 



thought from a slight inspection. B^t/in general the French 
Philosophers, who by their works prepared the Revolution, 
are perpetually despising or ridiculing the Greek language. I 
only speak of their manner of effecting their purpose. One ot 
the acutest, most dangerous, and most insidious of them all, 

Mr, 

Sameness," or as the Stagy rite himself expresses it, e H laorr,:, 
'Evotyis* The French Commentators never vary in their 
sense. With his " Magna Moralia," indeed they have nothing to 
do; but they seem marvellously to agree with him respecting the 
dignity and priority of the science and practice -of (their) 
Politics, in every state of Europe. 'H UloXltikw xvpiwrxrw kxi 
afyj.?cY.ro\r/.r:. ■£ivxs' yxp civxi yr^Bcav rccv sTfiffTn^cov sv rcc;; 
lioKscrty xca itrnas . Ikoloths y.ooAa^zw y kzi fJ-z%$i rivos, C ATTH 
AIATA22EI ! lam grieved to add rhe words which follow : 
O pcofAsv res z\ : Ti[j,0T\Xras tmv A^va/xso'v e 'TITO TAT x HN 
OT2A2 ! t I cannot ^Iso help observing, that mutatis 
mutandis, the letter of a modern French General to any State 
resembles one from a Grecian Courtezan, in Alciphron's col- 
lection. The fraternal and meretricious demand are not much 
unlike. Philumena says to Crito, " Whv do voir trouble yemr- 
" self to write so often ? I want Fifty (or fifty million) pieces 
" of Golx; ; I do not' want letters: If you Jove me, g;ve mk 
sf money! Farewell, (Health and Praternily!*) The Greek • 
is more emphatic: iJ svrr,x.ovrz yepvaojv cai, kui ypocyLpixruv h 
cu. EI ME <DIAEI2 AOX."+ (1798.) 



r Arist. Metaphys; L. 10. C. 3. f Arist. Ethic. Nichorh. L. i.C. 2 
% Alciphrdri, Lib. i.'Ep. 40. £dit„,Bergle.;i 7791.^. £*.' 



G g z 



C 468 ] 

Through states, or armies, in the camp, or street, 



And 



Mr. D'AIembert, has these words. " M, si <vous saziez le Grc t 
Ceux qui scavent, ou croiert savoir, 1'Hebreu, Y Arabe, le Syriaqne, 
Je Cofii&i ou le Coptc (as if he cared how it was pronounced) le 
Persan, ou le Chimis, pensent et parlent de mime, et par les memes 
raisons**- We see, that the French Philosopher by confounding 
the Arabic, Coptic, Syria:,- and Chinese with the Greek, insinuates 
that there is an equal use in them all, that is, to the generality 
of scholars and to the world at large, little or no use at all. This 
does not merit any answer; but we see the nature of a French 
Philosopher* j Jiroof, and the manner of his argument. In short, he 
either knows every thing,, or there is no manner of use at all 
in any thing which he does not know. 

I think from continued observation, I understand the nature 
of these men. Their literature, their politie?,and their philosophy, 
all terminate in the same point. " Croyez Moi," are the words, 
whether they speak to an individual, or to the nations of the 
universe. 

Nozo since the Revolution, from reasoning they have betaken 
themselves to single words* Deception still. Mirabeau said true, 
<( Words are things " I cannot help observing that the Athe- 
nians (whose government was popukr and consequently tyrannical, 
and manured with the blood of her own citizens) had a 
custom of softening the appellations of things, which naturally 
conveyed an idea of terror. This may be found in a most 
curious extract, preserved by the very learned Photius, fro^i the 
4th book of the Chrestomathia of Helladius Besantinous; 

the 
. ■> ' * — - 

* D'Alembert Melanges de Literature et de Philosophic 
Vol. 5. p. 526. 



I 469 ] . 

And now a School revolts, and now a Fleet, 

Go, 

the words are these, <e To pc*} $z/(r$9j/x% Xsyaiv t«« roi? Ila- 
" Xc^ots- ^wns" w, (xocXicTTiX, Ss toi; AOryvatots - * &o xai to Aect- 
" (jMTnpiov, 0<X75/x* sxaXyv, k«* rov dk.ni/Aov Koivoy, ray cis 
•' E/>ivvt/a>, (rsfrvus 0e#s~* kt^."* In the same manner the 
French apply the terms, Equality, Liberty, FraUrnity x and 
similar words, for Tyranny, Desolation, Oppression, and 
Plunder. This is well understood. It would be presumption 
to enlarge on this subject to a kingdom so enlightened, so 
* dignified, and I may add, sq prepared as Great Britain. 

We have every thing to lose: for we have under our own form 
of government, comfort, protection, honour, security, and 
happiness. The price of preserving them is indeed great, very 
great; but the price of anarchy, reform, and inextricable 
eOnfuuon, would be greater beyond all calculation, > We have 
a foe powerful, and perhaps unrelenting ; yet all States yield at 
last to circumstances $ and policy may grant what affection 
might refuse. 

The most ardent wish of my heart is a secure Peace, 
after a war for ever to be deplored, bloody, fatal, and expensive 
beyond all example; but which I always believed, and still 
believe, to have been inevitable. We have still many and 
great resources ; but the times never called with so loud and 
sq commanding a voice for wisdom, discernment, and integrity, 
for temperate, timely, and gradual concession with dignity cud 
security, and for an ceconomy rigid and undeviating, on the 
harts of our governors, The times call equally for obedience, 
systematic acquiescence under temporary pressure, alacrity in 
defence, and vigilance, and loyalty, and steadiness, /» all t fie 
subjects in this land. We have no need o,f the Roman Armiius- 

G g 3 trhwft; 

* Photii Bibliothec. Sect. 379, p. 1593. Ed. 16*3. 



[ 47° 1 
Go, warn- in solemn accents, bold and brief, 



The 



tiium ; our arms are purified already. Our Soldiers are loyal 
and honourable, and. without spot: they have been weighed 
in the balance and found perfect. I trust also that our naval 
flag will. never again wave but in defiance to owr enemies. We 

ARE NOT LOST, IF WE CONTINUE FIRM. 

« 

I see the ancient marks of our country in every loyal coun- 
tenance. I would give life to every one who thinks, and who 
loves our great kingdom and it's constitution. In times of 
national distress Poets have sometimes found means to invigorate 
the public mind, and confirm it's stability. I speak indeed of 
the days of old, 4< the image of our antique world :" but now, 
when the Temple, and the Citadel, the worship, and the strength, 
and the constitution of our forefathers are to be venerated and 
defended, it is happy that we can trace and find these powers, 
each in their order. We may be reminded of all that was 
depicted in the fabled palace, where the deities once assembled 
in full consistory : 

Signa tamen, Divumque tori, et quern quisque sacrarat 

Accubitu ?enioque, locus monstrantur ! f 

'But I fable not: we have not the images, but the very things 
before, us ; and the words of poetry are set., off by the superior 
force of truth. 

We must remember that all the leagues of French Faction 
and their leaders, in England or in any country, never relent. 
They know .not the meaning of the term. There is as much 
mercy in them, to use the phrase of Shakspeare, as there is milk 
in a male tiger. In d]\ their combinations, their plots, their 
proscriptions, and their grand nuasurcs, all they have done, or 
proposed to do, is to lay their country bound in chains of ser- 
vitude^ 

* Statins Achill. L. i, • 



i 471 ] 

The Blumb'ring Minister, or factious Chief; 

Mourn 

vitude, at the feet of a French Directory. But Liberty is their 
word, and die diffusion of general happiness. How is this to be 
effected ? Cicero might start np in the Senate, and reply : '■' Cum 
ferro, cum metu, cum privilegio, cum prsesentibus copiis per- 
ditorum, et minis, et nefario faedere, servitute oppressam Civi- 
tatem tenererit. Libertatis signum.posiieru'nt magis ad ludibrium 
iiripndentise, qaam ad simulationem Religionis." (a) 

All this is so : but if they are called upon to retract, or to 
declare their full purpose, or to render their reasons to their country, 
they give us manifestos, and declarations from their clubs. They 
tell us of corruption, and reform, and all the sophisms of 
anarchy and revolution. So thundered the Orator of Athens 
against such men : Avri th ctTZGoxvou, ircpthfAara ivpurkttai. 
ytcct Tzocpxypafyas, v.ca ft po($XG£is\ Trov/iPorxTpi awpoj^oov nai 
olSmvtztoi. (a) But Justice has her balance, and the sword 
is not borne in vain. " At home, (I take the words of Sir John 
Finch in. the 4th of Charles I.) at any rate .Authority must 

BE VINDICATED FROM CONTEMPT; SINCE TFE LIFE OF 

government is reputation." We should remember, 
that " None are so bold as the factious in company, none so 
fearful apart." We may have good, hope, for 'we have a 
good cause. When perhaps the greatest statesman and the 
greatest orator that ever headed an Opposition, demands an 
audience of his Sovereign, I would willingly suppose, that the 

principle 

(*) Cicero, Prat, pro. Domo sua ad Fontiiices. Sect, qi. 

{b) Demosthenes. Orat. Upos Ac£>cpjr a wapizypa^Av, Demosch, 
Ed. Gr. Benenati 1570. p. 546. Why will not our Statesmen, 
study Demosthenes ? Is he; not allowed to be the very first 
political Orator ? Mr. Fox virtually understands his manner better 
than any man in England; . but he does riot exert it for lb- 
good end. (1.797.) Gg4 



C 47* 1 

Mourn proudest empires prostrate in the dusty 

Tiaras, 

principle cf his heart is not democratic: though I think his prin* 
ciples, in general, are very dangerous at -this time, I would 
hope, that we may be redeemed. 

It was the boast of the Roman Emperor Augustus, that he 
found the city of brick, and left it of marble. I trust we shall 
not reverse this memorable saying ; I trust that the public credit 
of the nation will revive, and that in this respect^ when speaking 
of Mr. Pitt, it will not be engraven with an iron pen, and in 
the rock of England for ever, " Auream invenit ; chartaceam 
reliquit;" " He found it of gold \ he left it oi paper " 

I think I can discern the firm establishment of lawful constU 
tutional power in the plunges of meditated convulsion ; and 
the return of day in the moment of greatest obscuration, I 
Jiave lcved my country from my earliest years, from a-convic-* 
tion of the excellence of it's Constitution, and of that balanced 
liberty it was formed to maintain. I am grateful for the pro* 
tection and the blessings it has afforded, and is yet mighty to 
preserve ; and I will therefore join the words and wishes of an 
ancient Orator ; " Imperium securum, domum tutaro, exercitus 
fortes, senatum fidelem, populum piobum, orbem quietum, 
qusecunque et Hominis et Caesaris' vota sunt, ea vovea onmU 
et ardentissime exopto V* * 

I am again, (much against my will, and I very sincerely 
apologize for repeating the subject,} finally called upon to declare 
with sole. unity, and with that truth which I have ever revered 
and preserved, that this whole composition, verse and prose, is, 
the work of one hand. In this assertion I have x\o mental reser- 
vation ; for I never wore the weeds of Do minick, or drank from 
the cup of Loyola. If this declaration will not suffice, I shall 
leave the sable birds of detraction to the hoarseness of their own 
clamours, and to the worms on which they feed. 1 shall soar 
Upward to the source and fountain of light. j t 

* Tertullian. Apolog. C. 3. 



[ 473 ] 
Tiaras, fanes, and pontiffs, crown and bust j 

And 

It is also frequently insinuated and sometimes boldly asserted, 
to be written in conjunction with many learned and eloquent 
friends in the groves and retreats of ovir beloved Academe* It ;s 
true indeed, " By the waters of Cam I have sat down and wept, 
when I remembered thee, O Siqn! as for my harp, I have 
often hanged it up among the trees that are therein," I wished 
to " sing one of the songs of Sion." But, as it seems, it is an 
honourable Conspiracy, a Conspiracy to vindicate, to recommend, 
and to uphold the cause of government, of Christian religion, of 
learning, and of good manners. Would it were so! Such 
united talents might do their perfect work. I have only to 
lament the unworihinesg^of him who has presumed, without 
assistance or co-operation, to undertake that office alone; 

" To intermit no watch 
Against 1 the wakeful foe, and wide abroad, 
Through all the coasts of dark destruction, seek 
Deliverance for us all J" 
If indeed -I bad either personal hope, or personal fear, in the 
political or in the literary world, I think it will be allowed that 
I should not have published this work. He must reconcile 
contradictions who will dispute this assertion. Whom have I 
courted? to whom have I bowed? Arbitrary power in any 
shape is my abhorrenee. I have walked in the school of Locke, 
and have passed through that of Sidney ; but 1 have in this hour 
of maturest reflection acknowledged, approved, and ardently re- 
commended the tempered doctrines which uphold government, 
and prevent confusion. 

In the political matters of this time, my suit and service is not 
rendered personally to Mr. Pitt. Upon me he can ha<ve no claim. 
My service is to my Country, and my praise to the Minister of 
the Crown of Great Britain. My praise is to him, who by deli- 
berate and undaunted firmness, with an unblenched dignity, by 

commanding 



C 474 ] 

And last, as through the smould'ring flames } r ou turn,, 

Snatch 

commanding' powers in speech and argument, and by vigorous 
measures, though without that promptitude of decision which 
marked his great Father, has preserved and supported (long 
may he preserve and support them !) the principle and stability 
of the British government and constitution. The main 'voice of 
Great Britain goes with me in this, Such I esteem Mr. Pitt : as 
such I honour him. Am I his enemy? I see his errors, and per- 
.haps his vices too, and T lay no nattering unction to them. I 
am alive to ail his public virtues, and I would correct (licit 
aberrations, for they are many. 

.As to Mr. Fox ; that he has not discerned the signs of these 
times, I -will not aesert ; but that his imprudence, his unbridled 
licence of language, and his plunging desperate doctrines in 
times like these, in and out of Parliament, have alienated the 
mind of his country from Him, that I will maintain. If I were 
to give credence to all his speeches, which I have either heard or 
rsad, I must declare them to.be the doctrines of a man ripe and 
ready for any revolution. If he is honest in his opinion, I can 
neither think nor pronounce him honest to his country. He 
should not have thus exhibited himself in the House, or on the 
Hustings. Ncn hoc ista sibi tempus spectacuta poscit '■/ I pass over 
the primrose path of dalliance on St. Ann's Hill ; though I would 
fain cast a withering look on the nocturnal orgies of dicing 
depredation and of patrician plunder befoie the walls of tbe_ 
palace, in the very face of a virtuous and insulted Sovereign. 
I can separate the man from the leader of opposition; I am 
ready to bow, and I do bow, to his genius, to his political 
eloquence without an equal, and to his knowledge various, deep, 
and extensive. His pleasantry, his social friendly disposition, 
and the good temper of his private conversation are acknowledged. 
But if he is ever to direct the councils of this kingdom, he must 

tread 



[ 475 ] 

Snatch the Palladium, though the Temple burn. 



THE END OF THE POEM. 



tread back almost all his steps : if he turns to our. government* 
he must be born again, , 

Non h<ec ev^erso veniens in feeders saeclo, 

Aut Tuscum Tiberim, aat Romana palatia servet. 

With opinions bold and candid as these, I might obtain some 
respect and perhaps some attention from the public ; but I could 
hardly please either Mr. Pitt or Mr. Fox. If I sought persona! 
fame ; my motive is still more visionary ; no man can account 
for it. He who loved fame best said of it, " Just what you 
hear you have." I am wholly unknown : It is very proper 
that I should be so ; and yet I would be understood even on this 
point. I have not the sacred fear 'of a coward, but the deliberate 
courage which is inspired by reflection, and the confidence 
which I am proud to repose in honourable friendship. 

Some literary enterprises are indeed rather hazardous in their 
nature; and mine are of that number. Yet I love decorum, ar.d 
I wou!d be guided by discretion ; but it is not the form only of 
those virtues, refined through certain strainers, that I would pre- 
serve, it is the spirit of them. I would have gentleness without 
timidity, and decision without presumption. But I must feel the 
pressing nature of the time, the burthens, the terrors, the perils, 
and the necessity of the state. Whoever would do a public 
service, must forget himself; his remuneration is from within. 
As to myself, however unavailing my actions, my sentiments,-' 
py abilities, or my services, they are unknown, unsought, 
unsolicited, and shall be unaltered. In spirit, in principle, 
and in affection, my words and my thoughts are these ; 

Non ante rcveilar^ 
Exanimem qv.am te complectarRoMA, tuumque 
Nomen, Lieertas, et inanem prosequur umbram ! (179-./ 

THE END. 



A TRANSLATION 



OF 



THE PASSAGES 



CITED IN 



THE PREFACES AND NOTES 



to 



THE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



Non verbum ver&o* 



A TRANSLATION 

OF 

THE PASSAGES 

CITED IN 

THE PREFACES AND NOTES' 

TO 

THE PURS UI TS OF LITER J TUR E. 



IN THE TITLE-PAGE. 

T(A£t:, CO TIGCVTOC OCC, 

•« Ye, who from your natural disposition, as wtU as from 
your education, are in all things good and kindly affectioned, 
moderate, and worthy of the kingdom, be favourable to this 
Work/' 



IN THE PREFACE. 

P. V. 

Nyv a £&\ri<rrs Kr t $i(rc(pMy, zv o;cT &c. 

" Plow, my friend Cephisophon, I am well acquainted 

with the nature of the persons who have spread their reports 

and writings concerning us among the public, what and 

who they are. But as their malicious slanderings have 

always been ineffectual,, and have made themselves the 

objects of ridicule and contempt ; so now be. more fully 

assured that they are not only ineffectual, but have returned 

Upon their own heads with increased force. You indeed 

have 



L 4»« J 

have acted a kind part iti acquainting me with their proceed- 
ings, as you think I might be interested in the information j 
but I should by no means consider it as friendly in you, but 
rather as a direct injury done to me, if you condescended 
to make any answer to the slanders of men who are wholly 
unworthy of any notice whatsoever /" 

From a Letter of Euripides, 



P. vi. 
Eh ! qui sauroit sans moi &.c# 
" Who would ever have known that Cotin had preached, 
that William had translated, or Richard had sung, if I had 
not informed them ? " 



P. viL 

Egli medesmo prese Sec. 
" He himself took the Shield from forth it's covering, 
and made the light of it clear and conspicuous ; the in- 
chanted Lustre which burst from it, struck the eyes of his 
adversaries so powerfully, that they became blind, and fell 
around in heaps discomfited, some from the stern and some 
from the prow." 



P. ix. 

Caelum ipsum &c. 
We assail heaven itself by our folly." 



P. xi. 

eAAA22U2 2KHITTPA, Sec. 

n We hold in our own hands the sceptre and monarchy of 

the Ocean ! — O my Country ! afflicted as thou art, thou shall 

not hide thy glory in darkness, without lustre and without 

remembrance." 

P. xii, 



t 481 3 

P. xii. 
Sancta ad vos &c. 

" I will descend to you pure and untainted with that 
reproach, as a man who has never been unmindful of his 
learned ancestors.'* 



P. xiii. 
Consumpta est fabula vulgi, &c. 

" The idle tales are passed ; the Citizens have now learned 
to laugh at the fraternal kisses so long the popular theme," 



P. xvii. 
Prodita dum laxant, &c. 

" While [by ' disseminating such doctrines) they are 
opening the barriers of our very gates to the Tyrannic 
enemy, it will become us to adopt some great measures to 
preserve our liberty, while it's existence is dubious." 



P. xviii. 
Deserta sub antro, &c. 
" She lies in her cavern forlorn and deserted : Where is 
now the aliment to supply her breasts ? W T here are those 
whom she may consign to mighty destruction ? — Hitherto 
we have had nothing, but arms, and trumpets, the instruments 
of war, and wounds, and death." 



P. xx. 

Doctringe hsec VindeXj &c. 

" The Vindicator of the cause of Learning offers these 
solemn admonitions to the Genius of Britain." 

H h /P. xxi. 



[ 4*« 1 
P. XXI. 

Ex*pt\]/g /xsv T8 vttposvro; 8tC. 
" The Oracle from Parnassus has loudly decreed, iliat 
an universal search should be made lifter him who is 
concealed." 



P. xxii. 
Ex phrasi, ex ore, ex locutione, &c. 
" From his phrafeology, his manner of speaking, his 
peculiar diction, and other circumstances, I am convinced 
that the whole work, or the greater part. of it, is the com- 
position of Hieronymus Aleander. From my constant, 
familiar, and domestic intercourse with him, I am as inti- 
mately acquainted with his genius and disposition, as he 
himself can be." 



P. xxiii. 
Nous laiss©ns les Peres a ceux, &c. 
" We leave the Fathers to them who treat of the Positive? 
m our writings we cite only the new Casuists.' — * But who 
are these new authors ?— Very able and very celebrated 
men ; we have Villalobos, Conink, Lamas, Achokier, 
Dealkoser, Bobadilla, &c. &g/— -' Oh, my good Father, 
I rejoined in much alarm, are these people Christians?'— 
* How ? not Christians I he answered ; they are the very 
persons * by whom we govern, &c.' — So much the worse, 
I said, but added nothing more." 



P. xxiv. 
Factorum est copia nobis, &c, 
" We have matters of fact in great abundance, this is the 
consequence of our residence at Rome : there is my house, 
there is my retirement, and there my days are consumed." 

• ' ""a trans- 



E 483 1 

A TRANSLATION 

OF 

THE PASSAGES 

CITED IN 

THE INTRODUCTORY LETTER 



P. 1. 

Nel cerchio accolto, &c. 
" Retired within the magical circle, he murmured words 
of mightiest power. Thrice he turned his countenance to 
the East, and thrice to the realms where the Sun declines ; 
" Whence (he cries) is this delay ? Do ye wait for words 
" more secret than these, or of greater potency ?" 



P. 2. 

Quid de me alii, &c. 
" As to what some persons may say of me, let them look 
to their own words ; but nevertheless they will talk/* 



p. 3. 

Vitse est avidus, &c. 
" That man is greedy of life who is not willing to die, 
when the world is perishing around him.'* 



p. 5. 

Tuv uipeaiav &C 

" Destroy the insolence and high language oF these 

heresies, and make them of no.ne effect,'* 

H h 2 P. 5. 



C 484 ]; 
p. 5- 

" To examine the excellent with the, excellent, and 
compare their several merits with each other." 



P. 6. 

. . (ApxiXo^) QuwifAa. &c. 

" The first who strengthened the exalted strains of Archi- 
lochus with a rampart of firm and solid words." 



P. 6. 
Magnificabo Apostolatum meum. 

" I will magnify my office." 



P. 8. 

TV tppovnoeus &c. 
" The compact and condensed power of the under- 
standing." 

P. 10. 
Ego, si risi, &c; 
" If I smile at the perfumes with which Rufillus is scented, 
or at any similar piece of folly, must I of necessity be 
stigmatized as a man of an envious and malicious dis- 
position?" 

P. 12. 
Et fxcv &*rEVapov &c. 
" If indeed you require me to chuse a coinpanion, how 
can I forget the divine Ulysses ? His heart, his affections, 
and his spirit are tried, ready, and prepared for every enter- 
prise." 

P. 12. 



£ 4§5 ] 

P. 12. 

Donum, &c. 

" The present of the fatal branch, now seen again after 
a long period." 



p. i 4 , 

Semel Causam dixi, Sec. 

" I have once spoken in this great Cause (prepared to 
repeat my words, if required) with that spirit which I am 
ever wont to assume, the spirit of an accuser." 



p. 15. 

Saevi spiracula Ditis* V'irg. JEn. 7. 

" The mouths of the cavern which leads to cruel 
Tartarus." 



p. .5. 

Tibi nullum periculum, &c. 

'* For my own part, I can see no danger to which you are 
personally exposed, separate and apart from the destruction 
of us all." 



P. 16., 
Senza levarmi, &c. 

« Without attempting some adventurous flight, when I 
had pinions to support me, that, I might offer to the world no 
ignoble example of myself." 



p. i 7 . 

Le Roi et ses Ministres, &c. 
The King and his Ministers might perhaps peruse these 
H h 3 memoirs. 



C 486 ] 

memoirs, which most assuredly are not the composition of art 
uninformed man." 



P. 19. 

" Difficulties of hard solution.' ' 



P. 19, 

Aldus his nihil est; &c. 

" Nothing can be more exalted than speculations like 
these; they are the very heights of the world. The great 
public mansion of Nature herself is contained within these 
boundaries." 



P. 20. 

Kvra.i ca t», &C. 

" These are the vauntings of Him who fighteth against 
God ; who glories in the strength of his wickedness; who 
threatens to destroy utterly and to confound the boundaries 
of nations, (once delivered by The Most High to his 
angels and messengers ;) and to make the whole Earth one 
scene of plunder and devastation; who boasteth that he will 
shake all the sons of men; and subvert and change the state 
of every ancient ordinance, institution, and regular govern- 
ment." 



P. 24. 

" Facere aliquid ad," &c. 

" (It cannot be supposed) that speaking or writing in the 

Greek language, in preference to any other, can have any 

peculiar efficacy in promoting the interests of true piety or 

learning." 

E. 24. 



[ 4^7 3 
P. 24. 
Frons laeta par urn, &c. 
*• His brow was not brightened with cheerfulness; and 
Jiis countenance was dejected," 



P. 25- 
Aspro concento, &c. , 
M The strains were harsh; it was the harmony pf horror: 
shrieks, and groans, and lamentations loud and deep, were 
heard to agree in strangest consonance." 



P. 25- 

Svegliata fra gli, &c. Petrarch, 

" Awakened, as from slumber, among the spirits of the 
elect, where the soul enjoys a more intimate communion 
with her Maker." 



P. 25. 

rtcnzp alio TCOV, &c. 
" A gale of odorous sweets is wafted around, as from 
meadows of freshness and of choicest fragrance." 



P. 26. 
Capita argumentorum* &c. 
■' The heads of arguments and objections against certain 
persons of morose and peevish natures, and without 
erudition," 



P. 27. 
Che tempo e ormai, &c. 
" For it is now high time to offer some assistance from 
the celestial vessel called the ampolla) to those heads, which 
are either empty, or scantily provided with sense," 

H h 4 P. 27, 



[ 488 ] 
P. 27. 

TptcrffojiacpYivoi; tSsw, 8cc. 
" Hecate, with her triple head, a fatal and tremendous 
prodigy, the child of Tartarus/ 1 



p. 2/ . 

Ous Agris E(pt\xro,. 
cc The favourites of Mars." 



P. 27. 
Kaci c>l ILv'ju, &C. 

" The divine Bellona, and the Tritonian goddess, 

Minerva." 



P. 28. 
Mendici, mimi, balatrones. 
Beggars, players, and varlets of every description." 



P. 29. 

" Ulysses stripped himself of his sordid garments, and 
leaped upon the great threshold of the mansion. His bow 
and quiver, full of arrows, were in his hand, and he scat- 
tered the shafts of destruction before his feet." 



P. 29. 

^Lw^LKOV MoiC2:V KTEXVOV, 

(i The lawful possession and right of the Muses." 



p. 30. 

Pensa, che questo di mai non raggiorna. 
" Pause,; and reflect, that a day like this may never dawn 
again." 

P. 30. 



C 489 3 

p. 30. 

Quos orbe sub orani, Sec. 
" Wisdom herself can scarcely number setfen persons, 
from among all the sons of men, whom she can honour witl$ 
such a name." 



P- 32- 
Grave virus, &c. 

" The virulence of the infection has corrupted and 
destroyed all that is sound, beautiful, and healthy,'* 



p. 36. 

Non tenues ignavo, &c. 

41 I strike no feeble chords with an idle, unavailing im^ 
pulse ; but holding my residence by the Auruncian temple, 
(where sleeps ihe spirit of Lucilius) I bend before the tombs 
of mightiest masters, and raise my voice with boldness," 



THE END OF THE PASSAGES CITED IN THE 
INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



A TRANSLATION 



[ 4$o 3 
A TRANSLATION 

OF THE 

PASSAGES CITED IN THE NOTES 

TO THE 

PIRST DIALOGUE 

OF THE 

PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



P- 37- 
Audaci quicunque afflate, &c. 

" Whoever thou art, who feelest thyself inspired with the 
spirit of the fearless Cratinus; who turnest pale over the page 
of the indignant Eupolis, and of the venerable, dignified 
master of the sock * ; look also upon these my labours, if 
by chance you should discover something matured and 
perfected by study. May my readers approach them *with 
an ear purified with incense Jrom their altars" 

P. 40. 
Apollineae bellum puerile pharetras. Statins* 

" The childish war of Apollo's quiver.*' 



P. 4 i. 

Talia dum celebro, &c. 

" While I am recording these events, the Fury of civil 

Discord hath shaken her torch over the Tarpeian rock, and 

kindled wars as fierce as those on the plains of Phlegra. 

JBehold, The Capitol is blazing with sacrilegious fires, 

and 
* Aristophanes. 



[ 49i 3 

and the Roman Legions have assumed the maddening spijri| 
(if the Gauls'" 



P. 42. 
Sol occubuit : &c. 
The sun set; but no night ensued." 



P-43- 

Fingimus haec ? &c. 

Ci Are these things matter of fiction ? Is Satire assuming the 
loftiness of the tragic buskin? Would to heaven it were so." 



p. 45. 

Quae tibi, &c. 
" What remuneration can I offer you for a poem like 
this?" 



P. 45. 

Phyllidas, Hypsipilas, Sec. 
*' The tales of Phillis and Hypsipile, and all the lamentable 
ditties of sing-song poetasters." 

P. 46. 

Unus, &c. 
** Having obtained and enjoyed the sovereignty, he closed 
bis eyes in the same common sleep of mortality." 

P-47- 
Deficiens crumena* 

•" A purse under a consumption." 



P. 48. 
Sine vi, &c. 
'* He will utter no oracular precepts but upon compuU 

sion/* 

P. 48. 



IE 492 ] ' 
p. 48. 

Utrum chimaera bombinans, &c. 

(i Whether a chimaera buzzing in a vacuum, has the power 
cf eating up or devouring second designs, thoughts, or inten- 
tions?"* 



P. 5 o. « 
Stupet hie vkio, &c. 

" He is become insensible by long habits of vice, and the 
heart of the man is waxed fat and gross; he is placed 
beyond the imputation of guilt, he has nothing to lose, and 
is plunged so deep, that he cannot rise even to bubble on 
the surface of the stream." 



P- 53- t 
Piger scribendr, &c. 

" Too careless or too idle to undergo the toil of writing, 
I mean, of writing well ; for as to the quantity of his 
compositions, it is out of the question." 



P. 54-. 
Une boutique de verbiage, 

" A mere word-shop." 



A Germanic question, to ridicule the absurdities of meta- 
physics run mad. See a similar collection in the seventh chapter- 
of the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus 1 for instance: " An 
" piaster Esse reale actualis Essentia sit alind esse necessarium 
" quo res actuaJiter existat ?" — In English thus: " Whether, 
" besides the real being of actual being, there be any othey 
*' bei.ig necessary to cause a thing to be ?" 

P. 54. 



t 493 3 
P. 54. 

De Causis corruptae Eloquentiae. 

<s A treatise on the Causes why Eloquence has been so 
much corrupted." 



P. 54 . 

Abundat dulcibus vitiis. 
" He abounds with luscious faults," 



P-55- 



Oy yap ev /xecojot, &c. 

" The gifts of the Muses are not offered to every one 
who passes by, as common favours; they must be sought 
after, and obtained with difficulty." 



P. 56. 

Mugitus labyrinthi. 
<{ The bellowing of the labyrinth." — N. B. Put for any 
common topic of ordinary poets or writers. 



p. 5 6. 

La nudrita, See. 
'* Trivulzia, brought up and nourished- in the sacred 
«avern." 



P. 58. 
Per piu fiate gli occhi, &c. 
*' That work often affected us, and our cheeks turned pale 
as we were reading it; but there was one circumstance which 
quite subdued us. As we were proceeding, I exclaimed, 
" Alas! what softness of sentiment, what extasy of rapture, 
** conducted these wretched souls to the paths of sorrow*!'* 

P. 6q, 



I 494 ] 
P. 60. 
Omnes 
Admonet, &c. 
** He gives admonition to all, and cries with a loud voice 
through the shades; Give ear unto me, and be warned; 
revere justice, and despise not the power of the Gods." 



P. 61. 

Sunt adhuc curse, &c. 

" The offices of kindness and fidelity are yet cultivated 
among men : some are still to be found who will perform 
the duties of friendship to the departed." 



P. 62. 

Agri, edificia, loca, Sec. 
" iands, edifices, estates, possessions of every species, all 
have been seized within their grasp ; the heaven above, and 
the sea excepted, all have been declared public property, by 
gift, by assignment, by auction." 



P. 62. 
Si vous voulez une Revolution, &c. 
" If you are in earnest for a Revolution, you must begin 
by annihilating the Catholic religion in France." 



p. 65. 

Quantis suspiriis, Sec. 
" (They feel) by what prostration of soul, by what prayers 
and strong conflicts of the spirit, even the slightest and most 
imperfect knowledge of God is to be obtained !" 

P. 66. 



[ 495 3 

P. 66. 

Auctor nominis ejus Christus, Sic. 

" The founder of that denomination of worship was 
Christ who, in the reign of Tiberius, suffered the punish- 
ment of death under the Procurator Pontius Pilate.'* 



p. e 7 . 

Non est qui judicat vere, &c. 
«' There is not one who judgeth with true judgment ; no, 
not one. Their trust is in nothing ; they talk words of 
vanity ; they have conceived mischief, and brought forth 
iniquity." 

P. 68. 
1, Lictor, Sec. 
" Go, Lictor, and bind his hands." 



P. 68. 

Graece 
Discumbunt, &c. 

«* Their entertainments are in the Greek fashion ; and the 
pictured emblem appears without a veil ; you might expect 
to see the dancing-girls (from the East) displaying their 
attitudes before the guests." 

P. 69. 

Xotyia. 7rpcoro\ y.yvn &c. 
f * Wisdom is first pure, then peaceable/' 



P. 70. 
Si sic omnia i 
Would he had always written so V 



P. 70, 



£ 496 1 

p. 70. 

Bella femina, &c. 

The smiles of a pretty girl are the tears of the purse." 

Italian Proverb. 



p. 7 i. 

Composuit oeto, &c. 

" He composed eight volumes, not without elegance, 
but without sufficient discernment." 



P< 72. 

Propera stomachum, &c? 

" Prepare your stomach for these delicacies ; ancf feast 
upon the fish which has been preserved for your times. " 



P. 74- 

Corpus sine pectore. 

" A body without a soul.'* 



p. 74. 

Vitse summa brevis. 

■■ The short span of life." 



p. 74. 

Magno conatu magnas nugas. 
" Great efforts for great trifles." 



P. 7 6. 

Quousque frustra, &c. 

; How long will ye idly support these sons of fire ?" 



p. ■■„. 



[ 497 3 

P. 77- 
Ne pour la digestion. 

64 Born for nothing but to eat and digest." 



P. 8o. 

Grande munus, &c. 
" May he re-assume the weight and dignity of the tragic 
buskin." 



P. 8i. 
Ces propos, diras tu, &c. 

*■ These subjects, you may say, are certainly pleasant in a 
Satire, for the amusement of a reader who loves to laugh. 
But I want the proof; let me have it in regular form. I 
agree with you ; well, Doctor, answer me, and take your 
seat quietly, as in the schools. What is a Commentator f 



P. 8 5 . 



Non more probo, &c. 
" The manner is neither good nor respectable ; when the 
verses, or the subject of them, enter the very marrow, and 
when the effeminate, lascivious accents provoke and irritate 
the inmost sensations. " 



p. 8 5 . 

Pauca suo Gallo, &c. 
" Such effusions of verse and fancy, as even Lycoris 
herself might read," 



[ 498 ] 
P. 86. 
Hoc defuit, &c. 
" This was the only point in which Fabricius was 
deficient." 



i\ 8 7 . 

Carminaque Aonidum, &c. 
" (Minerva) approved the strains of the Muses, and their 
'honest indignation." 

P. 88. 

Tlotptparis, ri y &C. 
" Such is the power of insinuating flattery ; it steals away 
the understanding of the best and the wisest. 

P-92- 

Videre Canes; primusque Melampus, &c. 
<c The Dogs descried him: first rushed forth Melampus, 
Pamphagus, and Dorceus, and the swift-footed Lycisca, with 
flier brother, the quick-scented Ichaobates; and Asbolus black 
and .shaggy, and the powerful Nebrophonos, with Lselaps, 
&nd the fierce Theron, Labros, and Agriodos, and the shrill- 
toned Hylactor, and others which I cannot name. The 
whole pack, eager for their prey, follow in full cry, where 
the path is rough and difficult, and even where no path at all 
is to be traced. Alas ! he flies from his own attendants, 
fain would he have cried out, I am Action ; behold in me 
your lord and master. — He wished to be away from them : 
fcuj in vain : Re is left in their power " 

P. 95- 

Auto$ ytai ©£§a7ra'v, &.C 
" Himself and his faithful attendant." Or, " The Knighfc 
md, his Squire." 

P. 9& 



t 499 3 

P. 96. 

Mihi sit propositum, &c* 

" My resolution is to die in a tavern ; may wine be placed 

before my lips as I am expiring ; that the angelic choirs 

when they appear may say, " Heaven be propitious to this 

jovial drinker !" 

p. 97. 

Ilium pro literato, &c. e, 

" Many were inclined to consider him as a deep scholar, 

engaged as he was with old-wives fables and trifles, and 

passing a learned old age among the Milesian Tales of his 

own Apuleius, and the childs-play of literature/* 



p. 97. 

Utilium sagax rerum. 
" Subtle and sagacious in useful discoveries." 



p. 98. 

Altum Saganae caliendrum. 
" The towering head-dress of the Sorceress Sagana/ y 



P- 99. 

V Mercy rejoiceth against judgment." 



P. 100. 
Cuicunque veterum, &c* 
" I would confidently put it in competition with any of. 
the ancients. " 



I i 2 P. 100. 

* Cited by Mr. Warton, in his second Biisertation prefixe4 
to his History of English Poetry, 



[ 5°° ] 

P. 100. 

Nejowv ot[Asvrivcc xocpyiva,. 
Phantoms of the dead, without strength or substance/' 



P. 101. 

Ecce pro Clericis, Sec. 
" See what allegations I have made in favour of Priests 
and Presbyters ; and so may every grateful Clerk, with his 
fair favourite, say a Paternoster for me and my sins !" 



P. ioi. 
" Si quis dixerit, &c." 
" If any one presume to say, that a Bishop may have his 



foibles, let him be accursed." 



P. 102. 

Et velut absentem, &c. 
<* May they still call aloud with rival cries after Actaeon, 
as though he were not present." 



P. 102. 

" Hie liber est conglutinatus, &c. 

" This book * is conglutinated, or made up, of as many 
books as would serve one fat cook for fuel, to dress sheep, 
oxen, swine, pigs, ducks, turkeys, and geese, without 
number ; or as many as would be sufficient for one High- 
Dry er to heat an -hundred stoves." 

From a book, inti^led, " The Epistles of Obscure Men." 

* z". e. The Notes on the Edition of Shakspeare, by Johnson 
&nd Steevens, &c. &c, &c. 



END OF DIALOGUE THE FIRST* 






C 501 ] 
A TRANSLATION 

OF THE 

PASSAGES CITED IN THE NOTES 

TO THE 

SECOND DIALOGUE 

OF THE 

PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



'P. 103. 

Et* a^XrjTo;, &C. 
" Yet untouched and without a wound, I pass through 
the thickest of the ranks ; and may Minerva lead me by the 
hand, and defend me from the missile weapons of the 
enemy." 



P. 105. 
Grato mi e il sonno, &c. 
"Sleep is grateful to me, and it is still more grateful to be 
made even of marble itself, while wickedness and shameless 
effrontery are abroad in the world ; I esteem it happiness 
neither to see nor to perceive: yet rouse me not from re- 
pose, but let your speech be soft and low." 



P. 106. , 
Flebit, et insignis, &c. 

" He shall regret it, and become the burthen of some 
popular song." 



Ii 3 



P. ion. 



[ 5°* ] 
P. i on. 

Avziqvca;, &C. 

" Having drawn forth the belt and the paternal sword, 
buned deep under the cliffs and rocks sounding with storms, 
I again take ray sund of observation*." 

P. no. 
Dechirans a l'envi, &c. 

" Tearing to pieces their own Republic, we see them 
as lions opposed to lions, relations to relations, madly and 
foolishly %hting with each other FOR THE CHOICE OF 



P. ill. 

KarajQej yaiccv oqjynorvis Ag^s", &C 

" The God of battle kindles the flame of war in the land, 
and sounds the sanguinary blast from his trumpet. The 
kingdom all around presents one scene of devastation, and the 
fields are bristled with spears, waving thick as the ears of 
corn. Lamentations wafted through the silent regions of 
the air are heard from the pinnacles of the towers, with 
the rending of veils, and the shrieks of women waiting for 
misery upon mifery, and calamity upon calamity." 



P. 113. 

Glomerare sub antro, &c. 

» " To gather together, in the recesses of the cavern, a 

" thick 

* This dark allusion of Lycophron is to a legend concerning 
Theseus; See Plutarch in the Life of Theseus. If I recollect 
right, there is a picture in Lord Exeter's ccllection at Burleigh, 
en this subject. 



t 503 3 

et thick night, palled in the dunnest smoke of hell V while 
the darkness is mixed with fire!" 



P. 113. 
Ubi passim, &c» 
'« Where error drives them in endless deviations, from 
the right pa^h." 

P. 117, 
Dogmatizer en vers, &c. 

" To deliver dogmas or sentences in verse, and to rhyme 
on chapter by chapter." 



P. 119. 
Vitreo bibit ille Priapo. 
He drinks from his glass goblet, shaped like a Priapus." 



P. 120. 
Historia quoquo modo scripta delectat. 

4i History is always pleasing, write it as you will." 



P. 120. 
Sed tamen in pretio, 

fl But still it has a value." 



P. 121, 

Amoretti alati, 

M Little Cupids with little wings." 



I14 P* 123 

* Expressions from Shakespeare's Macbeth 



[ 5°4 ] 

P. 12 3 . 

Y7TV8 ay coy a. amacci, 8cc, 
,c All things which are habitual, such as motions to which 
we are accustomed, are favourable to sleep. To a sailor, 
for instance, the reclining on ship -board, a voyage at open 
sea, the sounding of the shore, and the noise of the winds, 
and the roaring of the waves, &c. &c. &c." 



P. I2 3 . 

Apollineo nomina digna choro. 
* f Names worthy to be inscribed in the choir of Apollo." 



P. 124. 
II cantar, che nell' anima, &c. 

" That music, which is felt internally ; it is not the ear, 
but the soul itself, which is affected. " 



P. 126. 
Felix curarum! cui, &c. 
" Happy and fortunate in his cares and engagements ! 
For him the garlands of Helicon, and the idle laurels which 
bloom on the brow of Parnassus, have no charms ! But the 
powers of his understanding are vigorous, and his mind, 
from long experience, is bound up to bear the vicissitudes 
of the world." 



P. 126. 
Ingenium illustre altioribus studiis, &c. 
" In early youth he devoted all the powers of his illustrious 
mind to the higher philosophy ; not, as the manner of some is, 
to shelter sloth under the covert of a splendid name, but by 
a steady and deliberate firmness against the accidents of life 
to prepare himself for the administration of the state.' 5 



I S°5 ] 
P. 127. 
" Opum Gontemptor, &c. 
*' Superior to avarice, of a persevering rectitude of 
principle, and unmoved by fear." 



P. 127. 
Magnum est vectigal Parsimonia. 
CEconomy of itself is a great revenue." 



P. 127. 
Mascenatis Rana, Sec. \ 

" The. frog of Maecenas (i. e. his seal bearing the figure 
of that animal) was an object of great terror, as the 
instrument of levying money." 



P. 129. 

Qixsigt &UVEGSI, (pUVECOSf &C. 

" His sagacity was peculiarly his own; and being gifted 
by nature with intuitive skill, he had moreover such a 
promptitude of counsel, as gave him a decided superiority in 
advancing all that was necessary upon any subject, and oa 
the spur of the occasion. 



p. 130. 

InformatUm fulmen. 

" An unfinished thunder-bolt." 



p. .30. 

Tres imbris torti, &c. 

Mr. Burke himself has thus translated this passage in 

part 5, chapter 5, of his treatise on the Sublime and Beautiful, 

as an example that words may affect without raising distinct 

images. " Three rays of twisted showers t three of watery 

•' clouds, 



C 5°6 ] 

clouds, three of fire, and three of the winged south wind; 
" then mixed they in the work terrific lightnings, and 
" sound, and fear, and anger, with pursuing flames* ' 



p. 132. 

Cum tot abortivis, &c. 

" Since the teeming womb of Julia has produced st* 
rriany crude births, or rather abortions, which confess their 



p. 132. 

Avxpfaywy&vns ex £&9pojv yns, &c. 

" While the earth is burst asunder from its foundations, and 
the very depths of Tartarus are disclosed and laid bare to 
view.'* i 



P- 133- 
Quando ullum invenient parem? 

" When shall they look upon his like again? 



P. 134- 
Monumenta rerum posteris, &c. 

" He has delivered downto all posterity, who may enquir* 
after them, the monuments and records of these transactions. 
Young men of character and ability will be desirous of his 
company and conversation, and will learn from him, as from 
an oracular decision, the path which it is their interest or their 
duty to follow. He will instruct them, and will form their 
minds ; and like an experienced pilot, will shew them what 
is necessary to direct and preserve the vessel, when the gale 
is prosperous, or when the storm is raging. He will be 

led 






C S°7 ] 
ted to this by a sense of duty and of common good, and 
even by the very pleasure and satisfaction he finds in the 
office itself." 



P. 134. 
Magno discrimine causam, &c. 
* s Are you about to undertake the management of a cause 
of great importance ? First consult your own self: say fairly 
and honestly, who and what you are; whether you are an 
orator of power and strength, or Curtius, or Matho. Un- 
derstand well the measure of your eloquence and ability." 



p. 135- 

Hunc ne pro Cephalo, &c. 
" I was apprehensive that you, Aurora, might seize upon 
him for your own Cephalus." 

p. 136. 

Virus lunare. 
" Drops of infection distilling from the moon." 
N. B. Shakspeare, in his Macbeth, alludes to this piece of 
ancient witchcraft. 

" On the corner of the moon 

Hangs a vaporous drop profound ; 
I'll catch it, ere it fall to ground." 



p. i 39 . 

" He was the Scribe, or Secretary of Nature, dipping his 
pen into mind. 



P. 142. 
Nunc non e manibus illis, &c. 

Will 



[ 508 ] 

€e Will not violets spring from the spot where his manes 
repose, from his tomb and favoured ashes?'* 



p. I44 . 

Rite maturos, &c. 
'* To bring forth the matured birth in due form. 



p. i 45 . 

Oro miserere laborum, &c. 
" Consider, I beseech you, all that I have undergone; have 
compassion on a mind which has suffered most unworthily," 



P. 146. 
Nomen in exempium, &c. 

" We will preserve his name for an example to late 

posterity." 



P. 14-7. 

Ia'rf^xwTaros■, tyXotia/qof xzi, &c. 
" A Physician of consummate skill ; generous, liberal, not 
to be corrupted; a friend to the poor and needy ; a gentleman 
in principle', a regulator and conductor of youth ; a man of 
sanctity, justice, and piety; whose attainments have reached 
the utmost heights of erudition/' . 



p. . 49 . 

Nudus agas, &c. 
" Plead then quite naked; madness is less censurable." 
— JN. B. Juvenal alludes to the indecent summer dresses of 
the Roman advocates in the courts of law, 

P. 150. 



[ 509 ] 
P. 150. 
Quel d'amor travagliato Sacripante. Ariosto.O.F. c. 1. 
" I speak of the love-lorn Sacripante." 



P. i d o. 

2fVET0i(7i. 

(This note is addressed) " To the intelligent." 



P. 151. 
Delia commodka, &c. 
" I, poor Medoro, in gratitude fcr thefavourabk reception 
I found in this place," &c. &c. 



P. i 5 u 

Era scritto in Arabico, Sec. 
** It was written in the Arabic language, which the noble 
Earl understood as to ell as he did Latin.'* 



P. i 5 u 

Ne sono a Ferrau," &c. 

" I cannot allot any more of my verses to Ferrau, or 
Sacripante (or even to Carlisle) ; the Prince of Anglante calls 
my attention from them; &c." 



P. , 5 2. 

Oi QsCl QlX.TEipa,VT-E<j, &C 

" The Gods in compassion to the race of menf born to 
toil and trouble, assigned the Muses, and Apollo, and Bacchus 
for the companions of their festivals." 



P. 152. 
f-Some manuscripts read here,'" politicians." 



p. 152. 

N. B, These are Greek musical terms, and technical 
words, which it would be needless to explain, and indeed 
would answer no purpose. Dr. Burney's History of Music 
will, I believe, give their explanation at large. 



P- iS7- 
Di Patrii, quorum, &c. 

tc Gods of my country, tutelary Deities of Troy, ye 
cannot surely have resolved to extirpate the sons of Teucer, 
since ye have inspired the breasts of our youth with such 
loyalty, such zeal, and with such determined bravery." 



THE END OF THE SECOND DIALOGUE. 






[ 5" 3 
A TRANSLATION 

OF THE 

PASSAGES CITED IN THE PREFACE AND NOTES 

TO THE 

THIRD DIALOGUE 

OF THE 

PURSUITS ,0F LITERATURE. 



P. 159. 

E,xAa<y|av $' dp oiVrof, 8cc. 

" The arrows rattled in his quiver, as he moved along ia 
all the fierceness oi his wrath. His march was like the Night. 
He took his station at a distance from the ships, and sent foith 
a shaft; and the sounding of the silver bow was terrible. 
His first attack was on the animals, the mules and dogs; but 
after that, he smote the army itself with many a deadly 
arrow, and the funeral piles of the slain blazed frequent 
through the camp." 



P. 161. 

Tavra TnavQ* uTrzp Y/ocwv, i/ffep, 8cc. 
" I present these considerations as the result of accurate 
and solemn investigation; they are offered in behalf of YOU 
all; in the cause of Truth, your Constitution, and your 
Laws; for your common Salvation, your Religion, your 
Honour, and your Liberty." 

t . win, m 



C 5*2 3 
p. 161. 

Licet omnibus, licet etiam mihi, 8cc. 

«* It is the right of every man, and it is also mine, to 
endeavour to support and vindicate the honour and dignity 
of his country; and while I have the power of appearing 
before the public, I decline not the danger of delivering my 
sentiments boldly and openly," 



p. 163. 

Avavyoc&ai Ohs E^sfyor, &C. 
" Look upon " the great Vision* of that guarded 
mount," see what a power holds his watchful residence on 
the summit of the cliff, a power able to overthrow you from 
your foundations!" N. B. The poet is speaking of Mars 
personified on the highest mountain of Belos. 



P. 164. 

Jnstat terribilis vivis, &c. 
" She is an object of terror and dismay to all the living; 
and she claims the inheritance of those who are ready 
to perish. With her there is no pause : when plunder 
ceases, lust wakes and rages ; the rich tremble by day, and 
the married by night. At her nod her Satellites, with their 
swords unsheathed, start forth prepared for action." 



p. 165. 

Saevis opus est et fortibus umbris, &c. 

" She requires in her service the spirits of the cruel and 

of the brave ; nay, she herself creates them, and she finds her 

account in death under every form." 

P. 168. 

* An expression adapted from the Lycidas of Milton. 



C 513 ] 
p. 168. 

Quag cum magna modis, &c. 

" A Region, long the subject of speculation and wonder 
to all the surrounding nations ; a kingdom which abounds in 
every production which is valuable, and which is defended 
by the internal, consolidated strength of her own natives ; 
yet she appears to have possessed no greater or more illus- 
trious object of love and veneration than this man." 



P. 168. 
Omnia fata laborant, &c* 

" The fates and fortunes of all around totter and shake, 
if you attempt to change what now exists : the whole human 
race stands or falls in the issue of this one conflict." 



P. 168. 
Animo vidit, &c. 
" These subjects he saw by the power of his mind, and 
comprehended them by his understanding ; arid by his 
eloquence he cast a brightness upon them." 



P. 169. 

AptEt EI2 AvQpuvos, &c. 
M One enlightened man with an ardent zeal is able to 
Dreserve a whole people upright." 

\ — : 
p. 170. 

La piova maladetta, &c. 
** It was a storm of accursed quality ; of rain, cold, heavy, 
and frequent, with hail stones and sleet, and thick discoloured 

K k snow, 



L 5^4 J 

snow, pouring down in torrents through the darkened regions 
of the air.'* 



P. 171. 

Euhi; !— xk\' 8, &C 
'• Thou sleepest the sleep of mortality ! — But we are not 
unmindful of thee, O Achilles ;. in life and in death thou art 
equally the object of Our regard and veneration." 



P. 172. 

OirtOv '(XfAEpOY a<STQt$ 9 &C. 

x *' I record the praises of Corinth, a state mild to it's own 
citizens, hospitable to strangers, famed for opulence, the 
sacred residence of Neptune, whose youth are renowned for 
courage and ability. There dwells Eunomia, the goddess of 
well-ordered governments, and her sisters, Justice, the 
unshaken basis of every state, and Peace, of like manners ; 
the dispensers and arbiters of wealth, the golden daughters 
of Themis, whose counsel never deceives. It is their wish 
and purpose to chase away injury, the boltl-tongued parent 
of satiety and insolence." 

" Here too the Muse breathes forth her sweetest, softest 
inspirations ; and Mars himself flourishes anew in the prowess 
of her youthful heroes." 



p. 173. 

Haec Ego non credam, Sec. 
" Shall I not rouse myself at such a call, and attack 
them ? Shall I not hold up the torch of Satire to works like 
these ?" 



P.i 



7* 



C 5»5 ] 

p. 1 74 . 

" Not to be interested, or take any part in the welfare of 
a State, which never allowed them to share any advantage." 



p. i 74 . 

Ou'Sbv hi Poj/xcwor TaTTeivwOsvres", &C. 

" The Romans were nothing humbled, as might have 
been expected, engaged as they were in an arduous war, and 
deserted by all their Allies. But on the contrary, with a 
firm reliance on their internal powers alone, they rushed 
forward to the contest with still greater alacrity, and with a 
courage inspired by danger and necessity. They were bold 
and confident of their ability, under the guidance of good 
counsel, to carry on the war with effect by their own 
native courage and virtues, without any to participate their 
glory." 



P. ife 

Ferro Argolicas, &c. 

*' To pierce with the sword the inmost concealments o£ 
the Greeks.'* 



P. 176. 
Tu ne cede malis, &c. 
" Suffer not your spirit to be subdued by misfortunes; 
but on the contrary, steer right onward, with a courage 
greater than your fate seems to allow." 



p. .77. 

MaT«ioXoywv (py^a, &c. 
" The fame of some vain pretenders to poetry has been 
K k a noised 



C Ji6 ] 

noised about Greece, to the disgrace of a learned and 
distinguished art." 



p. m . 

Place de la Traduction. 

par Monsieur Pelticf. 
Jean Norbury, Docteur, &c. &c. 

" Place of Translation. 

John Norbury, Doctor in Divinity, Canon and 
Fellow of Eton College. Aged. sixty eight years. 

Stephen Weston, Bachelor in Divinity ; an Abbe, 
a Traveller, and a maker of verses ; formerly Rector of 
a parish. Aged fifty years, 

Charles Coote,* Doctor in Divinity, a Dean in 
Ireland. Aged fifty-two years, according to the 
Register. 

Edward 

P. S. J ? ai rec,ue une Iettre, &c 

* P. S. " I have received a letter from Monsieur Peltier, 
for whom I entertain the highest consideration, who has informed 
me, that there is a little mistake concerning Dr. Coote, the 
celebrated translator. He says, that Dr. Coote was not an 
Irish Dean, (and consequently a great Theologian,) but a 
Doctor in the Civil Law in England, deeply njersed in the Greek 
grammar. Mr. Peltier, with a zeal for truth of the most 
edifying nature, and with great devotion of mind, has requested 
rae to correct the Register and the Poetry in this particular; 
and has also signified to me, that the Key. Mr. Nares, a 
very amiable author in his way, and editor of the periodical 
work called The British Critic, was very eager and solicitous 
on the same account. Unfortunately, it is wholly out of my 
power to oblige them; and I returned an answer with great 
frankness; " My dear Peltier, when once a doctor's head is 
" off, what can be done?" (Nov, 1797.) 



I w 3 

Edward Tew, Bachelor in Divinity, Canon and 
fellow of Eton College. Aged fifty seven years. 

Guillotined after the Greek fashion, 25th of Floreal; 

5th day of the Decade, 1796. 
Extract from the Register of Tut Literary Guillotine. 

N. B, They ascended the scaffold with great resolution ; 
at a quarter past ten in the morning their heads fell. 

Extract from the Report made to the Council of 
Ancients, by the Executive Minister of Literary justice. 



P. 180. 

Apyj^rz, 'LikeXikoci, Sec. 

Ye Sicilian Muses, begin the strain of woe." 



P. 182, 
Je trouve dans le, &c. 

*' I find in Elmsley, the bookseller, an adviser of much 
wisdom, knowledge, and discretion." 



p. 183. 

Ecnv a to oTrouaav, &c. ' 

" An oath is not sublime of .itself; but the place, the 
manner, the occasion, and the circumstances of introducing 
jt, make it so." 

P. 186. 
Ao%cov £*, &c. 

" Into all the meandrings of verbal obliquity/' 



Kk 3 p. iW. 



I 518 ] 

p. 186. 

Eraipa xpvcrix, &c. 

" If a courtezan wears ornaments of gold, let them be 
confiscated, or let her person be public."* 



P. 187. 
Mr;£e rx Kvnpict, Sic, 

11 The Cyprian verses are not marked with the accent oa 
the ante-penultima." 



P. 187. 
Ex libris deprehendi, &c^ 
" From his writings I discovered him to be a man of a 
glowing genius, extensive reading, and comprehensive 
memory ; but in general more copious, than choice ; and 
his style and phraseology rather confused, than clear and 
chastised." 



P. 188, 
Figuram animi, &c; 
" Let them rather present us with the features of his 
mind than of his b<jdy." 



P. 189. 
Si tibi Mistillus, &c. 
«' If your Cook's name is Mystyllus, why may I not call 
him also Tar at' alia"* 



P. 191. 

* The construction depends upon the mode of placing the 
accent on the word ^n^oaiix, 

* The words Mystyllus and T } arat } alla, are a play upon two 
Greek words, which cannot be explained in English, 



i 5*9 ] 
P. 191. 

Pleno jure — and usufructuario. 

*' Not of absolute right, but only t usufructuary." 



P. 192. 
Supera ut convexa rwisant, &c. \ 

" That they may revisit the superior regions, and again 
manifest an inclination to return to their corporeal, visible 
forms." 



p. i 92 . 

X-w vw 9 y.001 (Toi, &c. 
" Take this reward as a prize, thou venerable old man, 
and preserVe it for a. memorial of thy skill." 



P. 192. 
Melioribus olim auspiciis. 

*' Once under more favourable expectations." 



p. i 94 . 

Hoc Juvenem egregium, &c. 
" I present the illustrious youth with this distinguished 
mark of my regard, and of his merit." 



p. .94. 

f Terms in the Roman law. 

J This was an Eton allusion to Dr. Norbury's series of old 
clothes, re-appearing, after having been locked up for many 
months. It is hardly possible to translate the spirit of it hi 
English. 

Kk 4 



[ 52° ] 

p. 194. 

'Ore ysyovac Axnp, &c. 
When I became a man, I put away childish things.' 5 



P. 1 95 . 

Sic hceat, &c. 

" In this manner we may attempt to fill up the measure of 
Grecian literature." 



p. i 9 > 

Tunc cum ad canitiem, 8cc. 
" What ? when the hair is absolutely grey with years- 
do you ask me to overlook such folly? — No; no # ; no;." 



p. i 99 . 

Spiritus intus alit ; &c. 
" The spirit feeds it within; and the soul, by infusion 
into every member, agitates the mass, and blends itself 
intimately with the whole body." 



P. 200. 
Dixerat Anchises; &c. 
fl Anchises finished his speech, and led his son y£neas ancl 
the Sibyll into the midst of the Convention and the buzzing 
crowd. He then chose a rising ground, that he might 
observe the whole company as they came successively in 
review before him, and mark with discrimination their 
countenances as they passed by." 



P. 202. 






[ 5" ] 

P. 202. 

Decernunt quodcunque, &c. 
They do what they will with our whole body.'* 



P. 202. 
Per Solis radios, &c, 



" They swear by the light of the sun, and by the 
thunderbolts of their Tarpeian Jove; nay, by every 
instrument of warfare in the celestial regions." 



P. 203. 

Ejectos littore, &c. 

" I received them outcasts from their own coasts, In 

exile, and in poverty; and in an hour of madness, folly, 

or inconsiderateness, I almost incorporated them in the 

kingdom." 



P. 207. 
Hasc limina Victor, &c 
" Through this threshold the Conqueror Alcides passed.' 



P. 210. 
Tanquam portum, &c. 
" The haven, as it were, and the sabbath of all the 
contemplations of man." 



P. 2 10. 
Te quoque dignum, Szc. 
M lender yourself worthy of the Deity.' 



P. 2 



14. 



P. 214- 

ineta casdit : 

*■ He prunes his own vineyards.'* 



P. 214. 

Vineta caedit sua, 



P. 215. 

Ad terras comitata cadentem, Sec. 

6{ Let the trace of the avenging lightning which accom- 
panied him in his fall to earth, now mark the very walls." 



P. 219. 

In nostros fabricata est, &c. 

" The machine is raised to batter down our own Walts.' 



P. 22c, 
Naturai 
Perturbatur ibi, &c. 

4; The whole body and frame of Nature is thus thrown into 
confusion and disturbance, and every principle is made to 
change its position." 



P. 222. 
H073 yocp (aoi exorog ccyvoioc; xTTOLvroc, Scq. 

" In my opinion, the whole of their systems present to us 
nothing but the gross darkness of ignorance, and the blackness 
of deceit, with errors wide and infinite; nothing but mere 
fancies, and crude conceptions, and ignorance which sets all 
comprehension at defiance. I have therefore submitted to 
examine them, from a desire to point out the contradictions 
which prevail in their writings, and to shew the world that 
they only lead to discussions incapable either of limit or of 
definition ; and further to convince men, that the end and 

result 



C 523 ] 

result of them all is unsatisfactory and productive of no 
advantage whatsoever; without any support from matter of 
fact, or from the evidence of reason." 



P. 222. 
YcvoiAtvoq sv, &C. 
*' Being ia an agony he prayed more earnestly." 



P. 223, 
Notis et Commentariis, &c. 
" With the unceasing perpetual notes and commentaries 
of Doctor Guillotine." 



P- 223. 

'O 7F&VV. 

" A man of supreme eminence.*' 



P. 224. 
Melliti verborum glcbuli. 
" The honeyed globules ot language." 



P. 224. 
Ut magis sit hasce, &c. 
" It is far easier to comprehend the doctrine of the rising 
and setting of the stars, than to understand these strange 
contortions and excentricities of speech. 



P, 224. 
Av/yx<; s%ovrss, &c. 
" Holding lights in their hands, and Tilling out melodies, 
and verses " between ancient and modern."* 

P. 224. 

* It is impossible to render the original Greek word in 
English, which is compounded ludicrously. An explanation 
could serve no purpose whatsoever. 



C 524 ] 

p. 224. 
Salva res est, &c. 
M The matter is all safe ; he actually is setting np for a 
philosopher ; pray what was his name ? * a strange one." 

P. 225. 
Convenis.se Neptuno, &c. 
" It was suitable to the majesty of Neptune, that the 
offspring of his godship should acquire a more ample form, 
the time of his gestation being protracted.' 5 



^ P. 225. 

ErTTEi «H, &C. 

* For the embraces of the immortals are not ineffectual,," 



P. 226. 
Ev ■ wj; uyxQa-is, &c. 
* l In rich and good soils they thin and lop the corn while 
it is growing, to prevent its being rank and luxuriant." 



P. 227. 
In nullum reipublicse, &c. 
** He became celebrated for an affected style, and ambitious 
wordiness, without any advantage whatsoever to the state." 



P. 231. 
O' <pu(Tixos Xoyos, &C. 

" The sound doctrines of natural philosophy produce a 
secure and well-grounded piety attended with good hope, 
instead of a fearful and consuming superstition." 

P. 232. 

* The name in the original Latin cannot be translated with 
any effect, for the reason given in the last remark qn 
Aristophanes. 



[ 5*5 1 
P. 232. 
Sint hie etiarn, Sec. 
■** Let merit ever here obtain it's reward. ". 



P. 234. 
Musarum spondet, &c. 

* s The whole Pierian choir and the Roman Phcebus 
iimself answer for him." 



P. 236. 
H.uic Musae indulgent, &c. 
u To him every Muse is propitious, and Apollo claims 
Mm for his own," 



P. 237. 
r O0< r Ha; ppiysy&xg, 8tC. 

*' Those regions where Aurora has fixed her palace, and 
holds her festal solemnities, and whence the Sun himself 
** begins his state."* 

** -An expression from the Allegro of Milton. 



THE END O.F THE THIRD DIALOGUE. 



C 5*6 3 



A TRANSLATION 

OF THE 

PASSAGES CITED IN THE PREFACE AND NOTES 

TO THE 

FOURTH DIALOGUE 

OF THE 

PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



P. 241. 

Outf aXctcaxo'TririV siy^e xpsiuv, Sec. 
<e Neptune, who shakes the earth, was not idle in his 
observation, as he was seated on the loftiest summit of the 
wood-crowned Samos, lost in wonder at the contest and the 
war. From that eminence appeared all Ida, with the city of 
Priam, and the ships of the Grecians. He then descended 
from the craggy mountain. Three steps he advanced in his 
march, and at thejourtk he reached his destination at JEg& ; 
where his imperial palace, emblazed with gold and gems, 
was erected in the depths of the abyss, unperishable, enduring 
for ever." 



P. 243. 
L'ombra sua torna, &c. 

*' His shade, which had left us for a season, is now on 
his return." 

P. 247. 



[ M. ] 
. P. 247. 
O proceres, censore, &c. 
" O ye chiefs of the land, does this require a censor to 
punish it, or an augur to explain the prodigy ? Do ye call 
for the arm of the law, or the lustration of religion ?" 



P. 249, 
H/ucsir, ci<r tspa y.%1 tzQoi, &C. 
" In this our country we have our religious rites, and the 
sepulchres of our forefathers. Here we enjoy the freedom 
of intercourse, society, and conversation ; the blessings of 
lawful marriage, relations, and children, and the charities 
_of life. All these we enjoy in common, with you 5 and from 
these obligations we hold ourselves worthy of your trust and 
confideii.ee." 



P. 250. 
At vos Trojugenae vobis ignoscitis, &c. 

" But ye, who boast yourself of Trojan ancestry, find 
jexcuses for one another ; and such actions, as would disgrace 
the meanest mechanic, are esteemed honourable in men of 
rank and dignity. " 

f • *5* 

Tanquam in pistrinum, <kc. 

" He seems to be confined, and shut up as in a kind of 
workhouse," 



p. 2 55 . 

Quales et quantos viros ! 

" Men indeed of eminence and of high attainments.' 



p. m . 



C 5*8 ] 
P. 2,55. 
Idoneus quidem mea sententia, &c. 
" In my opinion a competent judge* for he was accus- 
tomed to hear him speak often, and he did not publish his 
sentiments on his works till the orator himself was nc» 
more. From this circumstance there is no reason to think 
that he has gone beyond the truth from the partiality of 
friendship." 

P. 2 55 . 
To yocp yspa.s sari S&vovro/v. 
*"' For this is the tribute which we pay to the departed.' 3 

P. 259- 
Si trapassammo per, &c. 

" Thus with slow and wandering steps we passed through 
the palpable obscure, through the solid temperament of 
darkness, mixed with drizzling rain. Our talk was of the 
life to come," 



P. 258. 
Episcopatus non est, &c* 

'* The office of a Bishop was not devised merely to pass 
away life, but it is an office of duty, labour, and attention." 

P. 2 5 g. 
*Oi &W TOV^S //.£TJOVT££ TOV TpOTOV, 8tC. 

" They, who have thus fashioned their manners, godlike 
Beings, carfied up by devout aspirations to the heavenly 
regions, superintend the lives of all around them. They are 
set apart and sanctified unto God Himself, who is above 
all, for the sake of the whole human race; by a spirit 

and 



C 5 2 9 . ] 

and disposition purified from every stain, by the unerring 
doctrines of true and unfeigned piety, and by words and 
works according unto righteousness. By these and such 
actions they offer up a species of propitiation to the Deity 
for themselves, and for those of the same common nature, 
and compleat their hallowed ministry in full consumma- 
tion." 



Saltern daretur, &c. 
" May the evening of my life pass in tranquillity, and 
in the study of the sacred Scriptures." 



P. 260. 
/ Quibus occupatus, &c. 

" The mind busjed and beset with (political) considera- 
tions, finds but few intervals for polite literature." 



P. 261. 
Corpora lente augescunt, &c. 

" Bodies are slow of growth, but their dissolution is 
rapid." 



P.261. 
Que ma vue a Colbert inspiroit rallegresse." 

" My presence gave chearfulness to the minister." 



{Colbert). 



* 



P. 262, 

* Boileau is speaking of the great Colbert, and of the Princes 
of the blood, and high Nobles who honoured him with their 
friendship. Such times are now passed for ever in France, and 
perhaps in England, 

LI 



[ &o I 

p. 262. 

Trunco, non frondibus, &£.. 
" The aged tree casts a shadow with its trunk, not with 
its. foliage. " 



P. 263. 

" To manage metaphor^ with discretion, h the mark of 
a just and comprehensive mind." 



p. 263. 

Tcjv Mera<p©|>ft>v &/ooki/48>7j, &c. 
" The metaphors which are drawn from analogy, gene- 
rally meet with the greatest approbation. 5 ' 

p. 263. 

T?}v fjisv am&v siritpepnrss, &c- 
** They endeavoured to impute to them the charge of 
being enemies to the people. Some were destroyed from 
private malice, and others because they were the creditors 
of their murderers." 



P. 264. 
'Oi ev reus <xo\e(tw vpoc-ravres, &c. 

" The chiefs of the factions had each of them a specious 
name and pretext. Some held forth a political equality 
among the citizens, and some, a plan of a more temperate 
aristocracy. Their fpeeches had a reference to the com- 
mon prize of contest, power and sovereignty; and every 
art was used by the antagonists to defeat each other. Hav- 
ing obtained their ends either by unjust sentences, or by 
axts of violence, they were prepared to fill up the measure 
©f their crimes and iniquity." 

P, 26> 



C 531 3 
P. 2 6 5 . 

Aft pO&MTGJV spcOTOUV, 8cC. 

" The rage after desires hard to be attained, is increased 
by the difficulty." 

P. 265. 
Tristis felicibus umbris, &c, 

" The shades of the happy spirits in Elysium had a gloom 
on their appearance. I saw the Decii y the parent and the 
Ion, souls which might well expiate the guilt of war; and 
Camillus himself in tears. Catiline stands in frantic 
exultation with his chains burst and broken asunder, and 
by him the Marii, terrible of aspect, and the bare, naked 
Cethegi. I saw the Drusi, names of popular celebrity, 
Tribunes extravagant in their proposals of iaws and decrees ; 
and the Gracchi, gigantic in their enterprises. Bound ii\ 
the dungeons of Pluto, they rattled their adamantine iron 
chains in sign of applause; and the guilty inhabitants of 
Tartarus seemed to claim for themselves the mansions o£ 
the just and good." 



P. 267. 
Aspice Gentem, &c. 

" Look upon the Nation, and your own Romans, call 
from thence the genuine Race of Latium, not Nobles 
from Byzantium, and Citizens from Greece." 



P. 268. 
M Fare ogni cosa di novo in quello stato; &c. 

" To create all things anew in that state ;•- to make new 
offices of government with new names, with new authority, 
jvith new men ; to make the poor rich ; to dismantle ancient 

h 1 2 cities ; 



C S3 2 J 
cities; to transport the inhabitants of One place to another *, 
and briefly, to leave no one thing, nor condition of life 
untouched, and not to suffer the existence of any one species 
of rank, or order, or state, .or possession, without an 
acknowledgement of your having granted it, and that the 
occupier holds it of you." 



P. 270. 
Nisi Bellum Gallicum exoriatur, 
" Except in the case of a Gallic war.'' 



P. 270. 
Of (aw ccXXac (Asyav w rs %<vp#, &c. 
'* Moreover the country itself, from its vicinity, and the 
ancient renown and valour of the Gauls, was an object of 
considerable terror to the Romans who were about to under- 
take a war so near home, and upon their own borders ; and 
in particular, as the Gauls had once taken their city. On 
this account they made a special law, that the priests should 
enjoy an exemption from all military service, except in the 
case of a Gallic war. The very preparation itself proved 
the nature of their apprehension : for it is not recorded, 
that the Romans ever had so many myriads in arms at one 
time, either before or since that period/' 



P. 270. 

Ut oportet, Bello Gallico, &c. 

" There is not a man, worthy of being a Roman citizen., 

who would think of availing himself of any indulgence, or 

exemption from service, in the time of a Gallic war r 

acforcjing to the laws and customs of our ancestors." 

N.B. The 



[ 533 ] 

N. B. The object of that oratipn of Cicero was to inculcate 
this doctrine; " Gallis fidem non habendam, hominibus 
" levibus, perfidis, et in ipsos Deos immortalesimpiis :" 
i. e. " That no trust or confidence whatsoever should be 
f* placed in the Gauls, a nation fickle, perfidious, without 
u £aith, and impious against the Gods themselves." 



P. 271. 
Vocem adyti dignam templo. > 

" A voice from the interior shrine, wprthy of the temple.'* 

P. 271. 

Ozrre rsco ■ (tttev^scxe, &c. 

" He poured no libation from this cup, to any of the 
gods, save to Jove alone." 



P. 271. 
Experiar, quid sacra juvent, &c. 
** I will try, if the Sanctuary can avail, or if Apollo be 
deceitful." 



P. a 7 5- 

In sua templa furit, &c. 

" The thunderbolt rages against it's own temples, and 

without any matter to obstruct it, both in it's fall and in it's 

return, spreads devastation far and wide, and collects again 

it's scattered fires." 



P. 276. 
Talibus ex adyto, &c. 
" In words like these the Sibyll utters her tremendous 
oracles of dubious import, and sounds them forth from the 
cavern, blending truth with obscurity." 

L 1 3 P. 276, 



C 534 ] 

P. 276, 

Les Merveilles que Dieu ait faites, &c. 

u The miracles which God has wrought for the eternal 

salvation of Henrietta of England. It was necessary to 

overthrow a great empire to restore her to the bosom of 

the Church, If the laws of the state are in opposition to 

her eternal salvation, God will shake the powers of that 

state to deliver her from those laws/* 



P, 2 77 . 

Me permettez vous, &c. 
" May I be permitted, O God, to look upon thy holy 
and awful counsels with fear and trembling ? Are then the 
times of confusion not yet accomplished ? 



p. 277 . 

" Nous souhaitons que 1' Angleterre, &c. 
sC Our principal wish is, that England, too free in 
her belief, and too licentious in her sentiments, may be 
chained down, as we are, in these happy bonds, (i. e. qf 
the Catholic faith,) which prevent the pride of man from 
wild and wandering thoughts, and bring it into the captivity 
of the Holy Spirit and of the Church. 



P. 278. 
Arsp ^/xsvos oiK'kcov, &c. 
*' Sitting apart from the rest, on the holiest summit of 
Olympus/' 

P. 278. 

TlpOf TO ciidlOV £to?vE7r£V. 

C6 He looked to that which is eternal and incorruptible." 



P. 28a, 



[ 535 ] 

P. 280. 

Conditur omne, &c. 

" All the company of the stars are veiled, and the con- 
stellations pass away without a name." 



P. 281. 
TV) way ^fxTTEioix 7ro?.£jOuxor, &.C. 
" He was an experienced warrior, and his nature inclined 
him to military pursuits. But as to the other habits of his 
life, he was temperate and collected, of a philanthropic 
disposition, and so attached to Greek literature and Greek 
writing, as to make the professors of them the objects of his 
praise, and even of his veneration." 



P. 282. 

Aux Saumaises futurs, &c. 

" To prepare tortures for the Salmasius's of a future age." 



P. 284. 
Prima vel voce Canentis, &c. 
" They yield to the first notes of the enchanter, and 
tremble to hear the second invocation." 



P. 285. 
Credidi, propter quod Tocutus sum, 
?■* IJ^lieved, and therefore have I spoken." 



P. 286. 
Exequiale sacrum, &c. 
*' The funereal dirge, and the strain which appeases the 
minor shades ." 



L 1 4 P. 289- 



[ 536 ] 
P. 289. 

OvK WVXps, &C. 

u He could not rest ; but nourished, as he was, with the 
laurel of Apollo, he poured forth his oracular strains." 



p. 291. 

Hie Cimbros ei summa, &c. 
" He sustained the attacks of the Cimbri, and met the 
last extremities of the state, and by his single prowess 
supported the city during its terrors. " 



P. 292. 

Tavra iravru Xoyurpcw XaCwv, &c. 
41 Such a man, taking all these things into his consideration, 
living in quietness and tranquillity, (like one who takes 
shelter when the storm is raging,) occupied wholly in his 
own concerns, and seeing the world around him filled with 
all manner of iniquity, is contented to pass the time 
of his sojourning here in peace ; pure himself from all 
unrighteousness and the works of unhoiiness, and with calm 
confidence expects his dismission and departure in all the 
fulness of hope.'* 

p. 294. 

Tisc Qfcov, &C. 

" Their own son, sporting among the immortal 
powers." 

P. 296. 
Questi erano gli scherzi, &c. 
" These were only the sportive fancies of a poetical pen, 
not the serious opinions of a catholic mind. 

P, 297. 



L 537 ] 
P. 297, 

TPANTH ro%o$opov, &c. 

*' Granta has produced a sou, bold and in compleat 
armour. 



P. 297. 

*' The strains of thy lyre are deep and various ; thy 
march is noble and sublime, and splendour surrounds thee 
in thy progress. What excellence of thine shall I then select, 
who art every way worthy of honour and commendation ? 
Thou hast discovered the remedy against death, and the 
support of old age. All hail ! perchance in some future 
song I may again remember thee." 



P. 298. 
Les Romains eurent aussi, &c. 

st The Romans had also their allegories upon the double 
Sun in its succession at different times of the year. They 
applied them to their Remus and Romulus. The names are 
allegorical, and all of them relate to the year. 



P. 299.^ 

lis en firent la fete, &c. 

:< They changed the festival of the Zemures into immures. 5 



P. 299. 
Nous avons vu dans, &c. * 
We have seen in the preceding chapter, that Romulus was 
THE SUN ; that every argument proved it \" . 

The 



[ 538 } 

The proof is this. " Lenora de sa mere, 8cc. 
*' The name of his mother, that of his father, his brother, 
the death of his brother (Remus), his own name, &c. 



P. 20§. 

Ce qu' exprimoient a cet egard, ,&c. 

** What the Greeks meant to express by the Apotheosis 
of Hercules, the Romans expressed by the Apotheosis of 
their Romulus." 



P. 209. 

Quirinus (nom de Romulus) la, &c. 

♦« Quirinus (a name of Romulus*-, being the literal 

translation of Melcarthe, or Melicerta, among the Tyrians, 

is another proof, that they considered Romulus ASr 

THE SUN." 



P. 2 99 . 

Delirauienta doctrina?. 
%i The wild speculations of learjoed men." 



P. 300. 
Si Captivos aspiceres, &c. 
•-' If you regard the captive nations, behold the Molossi, 
the inhabitants of Thessaly, and Macedonia, the Bruttians 
and those of Apulia ; if you consider the splendid ornaments 
of other countries, look as the gold, the purple, the status s^ 
the pictures, and all the luxuries of Tarenturn," 



P. 302. 
Negatas artifex sequi voces. 
" He attempts to express the language which nature has 
denied him." 

P. 302. 






[ 539 ] 

P. 302. 

Attaquer Chapelain ? ah, crest, &c. 

" What ? attack poor Chapelain ? oh, no ; he is such a 
very good sort of man. To be sure, if he had taken my 
advice, he would never have made verses : he absolutely 
exhausts and kills himself with rhyming, Why does he not 
write prose ? — This is what the world in general says o£ 
him ; and do I say any thing else ? 



P - 3°3- 
Et quidnam egregium, &c 

" What honour can result from the destruction of a 
building raised by so puny a lyre ?" 



P, 304. 
Ego si risi, &c. 

" If I indulge myself in a smile at such trifling follies, 
must I of necessity be an envious and malicious tempered 
man? Surely not. 5 ' 



Munus Apolline dignum. 

M An offering worthy of Apollo." 



P. 3°4- 
Criticus, assuetus urere, secare, &c» 

" A mere critic, whose whole business is to torture, hacfc« 
and abuse without mercy, every book of every description ; 
to stab, or reduce with his pen, all commas, syllables, points, 

words, 



'[ 54° ] 

words, and sentences ; will not such a man withhold his 
unrelenting talons from attempting to destroy the goo4 
prder and government of such a kingdom as this ?" 



P. 305. 

TItlXov to ptsya, &c. 

v " The principal feather of the vain-glorious bird i§ 
plucked and fallen," 

P- 3°9- 

Tlcccracv TlowiTDcns , &c. 

s * The very form, substance, and image of Poetry in all 

its brightness, 1 ' 

P. 309. 

"Orav. svQiiata^cov f 8cc. 

eJ When feeling the power of enthusiasm, and fully 

subdued by the influence of the Muses, he calls forth inta 

action all the primal, original, and divine energies 0$ 

poetry." 

p. 310. 

Tyv ruv Tloir,Tcov, &c. 

4{ The enthusiasm of poets, when it is roused and set in 
motion, and communicates the impulse toothers; when it 
receives it's fulness from above, and diffuses to all around the 
light imparted from heaven." 



P. 310. 
KXr/i^o; Madras tv\w t &C 
- " I call upon the Muses to send forth their united voices., 
full and symphonious, in all the varied power of harmony; 

such 



C 5V J 
such as they are recorded to have celebrated in choral bands 
at the tomb of Achilles, m Homeric strains and immortal 
inspiration. Let us therefore, the sacred Pierian choir, join 
and breathetogetherall the fulness of the song; and I, Apollo 
with the clustering locks, seated in the midst of you, wilt 
myself preside." 

p. 3 .,. 

Opyx w §v(ns y &c. 
«' The disposition of your son has a strong impulse to 
learning and the sciences." 



p. 311. 

Legere si desideras, &c. 

<s If you are desirous to read and study works like these,, 
you must be free from the cares and anxieties of business, 
that your mind may be at full liberty to comprehend the 
force of poetry. As to myself, though I was produced on 
the very mountain of the Muses, where the consecrated 
Mnemosyne, with her nine offspring, bore to Jove the 
whole choir of the arts ; though I was born in their very 
school; though 1 have obliterated from my soul the very 
traces of the love of money and possessions; though I have 
adopted and exercised the profession, against even the 
appearance of success; yet it is with reluctance that I am 
received and enrolled in the assembly. I may be told, I 
have undertaken a work of weight and dignity: but, allied 
as I am to all the literature of Greece, why, from indolence 
and sloth, should I abandon the honour of 9*y native 
country?" 



P-3»- 



; t 54* ] 
p. 312. 

Neque enim Aonium, &c. 

•** I wander not through the Aonian grove with the steps 
<of a stranger ; nor are my brows now, for the first time, 
encircled with the fillets of the Mifses." 



P. 3 i 3 . 
Helas ! je n'ai point vu, &c 

" Alas ! I have never visited that abode of enchantment, 
those scenes of beauty and delight, where Virgil hath so often 
sung. But I swear by the poet, and by his sublime strains, that 
I will visit them; I will pass the summits of the Apennines; 
I will repair thither, full of his great name, full of his 
consecrated verses, and repeat them among the very scenes 
themselves which inspired the bard." 



p. 3V- 

Et (neae, si quid, &c. 

fi And, if any opinion of mine, is worthy of attention, I 
will give it freely in his favour." 



p. 317. 

Sic gemmas vaginae, &c. 

" In this manner did ./Eneas place the gems of honour in 
the very front of the scabbard." 



p. 318. 

" Like Stentor, with a heart of courage, and a voice of 
IgjrasSj whose speech was equal to that o\Jijty men united. 5 * 

* » ■ ■ 

P.g»8. 



t 343 J 

P. 318. 

Vicinas alii Veneres, &c* 

* cc Let others celebrate in song the" charms of many a 

neighbouring Venus, and the dances where the Graces 

preside ; it is our province to record the austere doctrines 

and decrees of truth. The chords of our lyre sound in 

deeper and more solemn tones-." 



c Oioy tw VoXXar;o£, &C. 
" How is the branch of Apollo's own laurel shaken! 
how is the whole temple convulsed ! Hence, avaunt, ye 
profane. Apollo himself approaches ; and the sound of his 
Steps in the threshold is propitious !" 



p. 319. 

De lodice paranda, &c. 
" A ho use -wife doctor, or schoolmaster/ 



P. 321. 

O nondum cognita divjim, &c. J 

u O ye gifts of the gods not yet fully understock i A\U 

haij, Frugality, thou who art guardian and friend of virtue 

and modesty, the curb of luxury, and the tutelar genius of 

life itself !" 



P -3 2 3« 
In qua Ego nactus, ut mihi videbar, $cc.. 

" 'Being, as I thought, in possession of the. vantage ground, 
with the opportunity of cutting down, or of curbing the 
headstrong impetuosity of youth, I was earnest ia my 
endeavour, and exerted every faculty of my courage and 

understanding, 



[ 544 3 
understanding, not from a dislike or hatred to any one, but 
from an honest hope of correcting the errors, and healing 
the disorders of the state. The Republic is sorely smitten 
and afflicted ! 



P. 324. 
Salve, magna parens, &c. 

" Hail to thee, Eton, Thou great nursing mother of 
learning and of men !" 



P.. 324. 
Mussat tacito, Sec. 
Learning is struck dumb with apprehension.' 7 



Academia degli Arcadi, Sec. 
" An academy of Arcadians and Italian Buffos or 
comedians." 



p. 326. 

Uni quippe vacat, 8cc. 
c * I have leisure, without prejudice or partiality, to drop a 
tear on the degenerate race and kindred of Newton." 



p. 326. 

Stupet aere primo, &c. 

" Achilles stands astonished as he first breathes that air. 
He asks, what places are these ? what waves he hears ? 
where is his beloved Pelion ? he finds all things either 
overthrown, or altered and strange to -his view-; and- he 
even hesitates to acknowledge his own mother." 

p. 328. 



[ 545 | 
P. 328. 

Fevo; mXsxrov, &C 

" A chosen generation, a peculiar people, a royal 
priesthood." 

p. 328. 

Jam Thebse juxta, &c. 

*« The scenes of Thebes are not far off; and the gulph of 
darkness is yawning before us." 



P - 332. 
Quis gremio Enceladi, &e, 

" Who confers the tribute of reward on Enceladus and 
the learned Palamon, in proportion to their labours and 
fatigue of public instruction ?" 



p - 333- 

Status dicitur a stando, &c. 

" The word " state" (or condition of life) is derived 
from " to stand," because when a man is in possession of 
one good prebend, we say, he stands well in the world"* 



p - 333- 
Recorderis Marescottum nostrum, &c. 

" You remember our friend Marescottus used to say, that 
he was indebted to our sacred art (of medicine) for thre6 
things, which he never should have enjoyed, if he had 
taken upon him the order of priesthood, as his parents 
proposed to him. The advantages were these : a strong 
athletic habit of body to his eighty-second year; a hundred 

M m thousand 

* The Latin words are ludicrous* 



. L 546 ] 

thousand pounds ; and an intimate acquaintance and 
friendship with men of rank and eminence." 

P- 334- 
Siccat inaequales, &c. 

" The Priest is invited, but not to an equality in the 
glasses." 



P-334- 
Ipse capillato, &c. 

" My Lord himself drinks of the most costly vintage 
matured by years and good keeping." 



p- 334. 

E ben cosa certa, che Paolo, Sec, 
" It is a certain fact, that Pope Paul the Fourth, who 
was a man of a great mind, and of immeasurable thoughts 
and designs, was convinced that he could himself rectify- 
all the disorders of the state, by his pontifical authority alone* 
He never conceived the necessity 01 having recourse to any 
prince in these affairs. It was his custom, never even to 
converse with the ambassadors, without thundering in their 
cars, that he himself was above all Princes and Potentates ; 
that he would not suffer any one of them to live in habits of 
familiarity with him; that he could change and dispose of 
kingdoms; that HE. was the direct successor of HIM, wha 
fead cast down an4 deposed kings and empexors," 



P- 335- 
Ubi Papa, ibi Roma! &c.~ 

** Wherever the Pope resides, there is Rome ! for ever 
and evex, till time shall be no more!" 

P. 337- 



[ 547 ] 

p - 337- 
Crimine ab uno, &c. 

From one single offence, learn the nature of them all.' 



A. D. 1544. Merindoliani et Caprarienses, See. 
** In the year 1544, the Merindoliani and the Caprarians, 
&c. the poor existing remnant of the Albigenses, presented 
to Francis the First, King of France, the following Confession 
of Faith, which they had received by uninterrupted tradition 
from their ancestors, from the year of Christ, 1200, &c." 

P-838- 

Anglia sic stabit, &c. 

" So shall England stand ! so shall she remain the lofty 
and unshaken citadel of Christianity !" 

P ; 339- 
Lasta et fortia surgunt, &c* 

" The plants are lusty and vigorous; for the soil is 

wholesome and Nature is working at the root.'* 

P. 34*< 
Jam que videnti, &c. 
" While fite was looking on, she stained his temples and 
his forehead with the crimson of the mulberry." 

P. 342. 

O magna sacer et superbus umbra. 

" Hail to thee, in awful concealment, and in conscious 
pride: great is the shadow of thy name !" 

N. B. Junius's motto to his Letters is, " Stat nominis 
umbra." Lucan, — " There is only the shadow of the 
name" 

M m 2 P. 345, 



[ 54« } 

P- 345- 

State super vias antiquas. 

*' Stand firm upon the old paths. 3 



P- 345- 

XYf siftcuv, avvocysv vs^sXas", Sic. 
" Having thus spoken, he gathered together the clouds, 
and with the trident in his grasp, perturbed the Ocean; he 
roused up all the-blasts of all the winds from every quarter, 
and covered the earth and the sea with clouds, and Night 
was spread over the face of heaven I" 

P-346. 
Dicendi Magister, &c. 

" Plato, at once the master and the example of eloquence.'* 



p - 347- 
Multos modo falsa revisens, &c. 

" False philosophy has revisited the world and deceived 

many; but Learning shall reinstate them and fix their 

minds on solid ground." 



p - 347- 
Cur non omnia? 
" Why are they not all so ?" 



P-347- 
Quis rapiet ad se, 8cc, 

** Who will be eager to appropriate to himself what is 
expressed in a general way?" 



*• 347- 



C 549 1 

P- 347- _ 
Qui se fera connoitre, &c. 

" Who will make himself known out of season, and 
without necessity?" 

Unde £>octoris titulo, &c. 
«< Why do they glory in the title of Doctor, but to 
instruct and teach others?" . ~ 



P-349- 

Eyfa^yj a.710 ¥u\a,v\%, &C. 
•* The epistle was written from Rome, when Paul stood 
before Caesar Nero for the second time." 



P-3SO- 

Negotium iEdilibus dedit, See. 

#c He gave it in strict charge to the ^Ediles, not to suffer 
any Roman who wore the toga or gown, to remain in the 
forum, except he laid aside the Lacerna* or Panula" 



Multo stillaret, &c. 
When the paenula, or cloak, was dripping with the rain." 



P- 35i 



* The Lacerna was a garment worn over the toga or gown, 
in bad weather ; but chiefly on a journey. The old Scholiast 
on the first satire of Persius, v. 68. calls the Lacerna and Panula 
both, Pallia. The pallium was a long open manteau. 

M m 3 



C 550 ] 

Ev GvvapfAoyoc, &C. 

" In an indissoluble connection and agreement according 
to the rules of the best reason." 



P- 35*- 
O Vecchi, ch' avete, &c. 

ft O ye old fellows, who feel that you have need of a 

wife, &c. &c." School for Husbands, 



Longa est injuria, &c ? 

" The account of the injurious transaction is rather long, 
and the particulars of it tedious," 



P- 355- 
P Fortunati, quorum, &c 9 

" Hail, fortunate and favoured people, whose temples and 
palaces are rising again under such auspices!". — Such were 
the words of iEneas, as he was surveying the pinnacles qf 
the city." 

P. 35$- 
Fortunae majoris, &c. 

" A man who reflects honour on his distinguished situation, 
and opulent fortune ; of an erect and independent spirit." 



P- 357- 
Carbonem pro Thesauro. Proverb. 

" A coal instead of a treasure." 



F.-js?. 



[ 55* 1 

P; 357- 
Oceano libemus, ait. 

*? Let us pour forth our libations to the OceanJ 



Pnvatis majora foe is. 
U Too expensive for a private man's purse.' , 



p. 358- 

D'ou ce visage enfin, &c. 
" Whence is that look, paler than a stock-holder at the 
sight of a decree, which cuts off a quarter of his income ? 
Who, or what, has plunged you so deeply in chagrine and 
melancholy ? Is there any edict in force/tfr the reformation 
oj the kitchen ? " 

_ p. 358. 

Prens moi le bon parti, &c. 
" Be advised, my son ; choose what is useful ; lay aside 
all your books and your studies. Be conversant in these 
sublime sciences ; fling away your Plato, and take this 
Guide to the knowledge of finance." 



p. 360. 

Vita cedat, uti convjva satur. 

" May he take leave of life, as a guest satisfied with his 
entertainment." 



p. 361. 

Rendono un alto suon, &c. 

" They send forth a sound as loud and deep as the Nile, 

when he deafens the neighbouring shores with all his 

cataracts. 

M m 4 P. 30*. 



[ 552 ] 

P. 262. 
Soyez plutot macon, &c. 

" Better be a mechanic, a builder, a mason, if such is 
your talent, a workman of character in any necessary art 
or trade, than an ordinary writer, or a common maker of 
verses." 



p- 363- 

ExXsjcro? -yevoposvog, &c. 

" He was chosen for a certain transcendent excellence 
peculiar to his nature." 



p. 3 6 4 . 

Par classes et par titres, &c. 
" By divisions of subjects, and heads of sections, to 
dogmatize in verse, and rhyme chapter by chapter." 



p. 364. 

Tavrcc vfjiwv tns 'wUvTraOsias, &c. 
" These are the archetypes, the exemplars of your soft 
and delicate life; these are the shameful and scandalous 
tenets of your theology ; these are the doctrines of your 
fornicating gods.— As to pictures or images ; you have the 
little figures of Pan, and naked girls, and obscene protrusions 
in forms gross and palpable. Your very ears are impure; 
your eyes have committed fornication ; your countenance is 
adulterous. Shame ! shame ! ye have done violence to the 
nature of man, and by your corruptions ye have debased all 
that is divine in his composition." 

p- a6 5 . 



t 55% ] 
P. 365. 

AXXo ts pcoi sv£s;v yj9»s-, &C. 
ie I think this circumstance fully sufficient to mark 
the morals of the man ; this alone clearly displays the 
nature of the affections and passions of his mind. For 
when a man stands in no awe of the disgrace which 
attends bad actions, and has no concern for his 
character, there is no way of transgression in which that 
man may not walk. With a countenance cloathed ia 
shamelessness and audacity, he easily and naturally proceeds 
from one bad action to the most profligate attempts.'* 



p. 368. 

Transeat in exemplnrn. 

" May it pass into an example." 



P. 370. 

Perche altrove non have, &c. 

«« (He does this,) because he has no other object to engage 

his attention ; since he is cut off from every mode of action^ 

and cannot display any other courage and ability [at present) 

in more arduous enterprizes." 



P-37'- 
Ut vellem his potius, &c. 

" Would to heaven he had given up to trifles like these 

all the time he devoted to savage and cruel purposes," 



P. 372. 
Wrought up to a high pitch of fury." 



*• 373- 



[ ,554 ] 

p - 373- 

Triste ministerium ! &c. 

" A melancholy office! after the manner of their ancestors, 
they held the lighted torch to the funeral pile, and turned 
aside their faces," 



p - 373- 

H yXojvact sart/p, &C 

s* The tongue is a fire ; a world of iniquity : it defileth 
the whole body, setteth on fire the course of nature, and 
is set on fire of hell ; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly 

poison," 

■ I I II 1 1 1 I I I u I 

p -373< 

KaA.7) avoco-rpo^in, &C 

" A conversation and behaviour honest before men,—. 
The meekness and mildness of wisdom.'* 



p - 374- 

Apw^svo; rtvrs, &C* 

" Endeavouring to secure his own existence and the return 
of his companions, but in vain: for he could not secure his 
friends, however anxious for their support." 



P-374- 
JLitEi Tpoms Upcv, Sec. 
" Since he had brought the sacred citadel of Troy to. 
destruction." 

P- 374- 



C 55% ] 

P- 374- 

Dow? WiV BaX-jq* xaQnpiQxsti &c. 

** He took away at once the power of the Senate; As the 

measures were proceeding, the words of Gracchus received 

still stronger confirmation. — The whole strength and power 

of the government narrowly escaped an utter subversion." 



P-374- 
Errare Gives, si turn, &c t 

«■' (He said) the citizens were under a mistake, if they 

thought the senate had now any weight in the constitution." 



P. 375; 
Mirantur taciti, &c. 

*' They stand in silent astonishment ; and wait for the 
fall of the vet dubious thunderbolt." : 



P- 376- 

Uu te, fortissime Teucrum, &c. 

" How willingly do I receive and acknowledge thee, thou 

bravest, boldest of the Trojans ! with what pleasure do I 

call to my remembrance the words, the voice, and the spirit 

of the great Anchises !" 

p - 377- 
Impudens liqui, &c. 
*' I wandered from my own home, without a blush for 
my folly?" 



P - 377- 
Mutemus Clypeos, &c. 

li Let us change shields, and adapt the devices of the 
Greeks to our own," 

F-379' 



C S5* ] 

P- 379- 

Hos mirabantur Athenae, &c. 

" Athens looked with astonishment at the torrent of their 
eloquence, while they wielded at will the passions of the 
full assembly." 

p. 3 8o. 

MocXx o-QQurnxat;, Sec. 
" With singular sophistry and arrogant presumption." 



P. 380. ' 

Arutpv (xaipacs (pvazi, Sec. 

" A celestial animal having nothing of pride or vanity in 
it's nature, sent down immediately from heaven for the, 
preservation and guardianship of men below." 



P. 3 8r. 

Apud Grseciam, quae semper, &c. 

" In Greece, which was ever ambitious of the sovereignty 
in eloquence, and particularly in Athens, the parent of every 
Science, in which the highest power and strength of speech 
was first cultivated and brought to perfection ;" (n« 
peroration was ever permitted.) 



p. 3 8.. 

Epilogos illi mos, &c. 

On which Turnebus thus comments : 
Non licebat Athenis, &c. 

" The custom of the city precluded him from the use of 
the peroration." 

On 



[ 557 ] 
On which Turnebus thus comments : 
€ * It was not permitted to attempt to move the passions ; 
gild they denied an orator the epilogus or peroration.'* 



p. 3 8 2 . 

Ei avSpzTrobaJV v IToXj,*, ocXkct, &C. 

" If the city, O Athenians, were indeed confessedly 
composed of slaves, of things made over and bought, and not 
of men who consider themselves worthy of the rule and 
governance over others, ye would scarcely have endured the 
affronts and insulting language of this man, which he is daily 
pouring forth in the market place, in the assemblies, in the 
very tribunal itself ; stigmatizing men better than himself, 
and far higher descended, as poltroons, and slaves, and the 
sons of slaves." 



P-383- 
Ilia se jactet in aula, &c. 

" Let vEolus swagger in his own Hall !" 



P,3?3v 

Proh dolor ! imperium, &c. 

" Oh heavy report ! to whom is the empire of the ocean, 
and the unrelenting trident now consigned!" 



p. 3 8 4; 

Eunt tutis terrarum crimina, &c. 
" The crimes of the land are wafted with impunity on the 
sea : from the time when the ship, loaded with the plunder 
of Jason, first disturbed the rights, the repose, and the 
majesty of the ocean!" 

p. 385. 



[ 558 ] 
P-38,5- 

.iV'pcai'xo/v Tecyp&rwv a-XaKay^oq, &c. 

" The war-cry of the Roman legions rushing to conquest^ 
and the shouts of the seditious, surrounded with fire and 
sword, were heard aloud. There was no mercy for age; 
nor could dignity find any respect. Wasted and gaunt with 
famine, they bellowed forth their groans and lamentations : 
while all the Perasa and the neighbouring hills resounded, 
and made the tone deeper and deeper. The calamities and 
sufferings were more formidable than the tumult itself.'* 



P-385- 

Qvrco [AzyccXoi pi, &c 
" The composition and words are so sublime, and the 
sentiments so weighty and full of matter. The whole body 
€>f the narration is dramatic, and abounding with action." 



p. 3 86. 

Finis et setas, &c. 
u The age and completion of all things is gone backward : 
but we will mark our late dissolution and death with honour 
and renown ! our death shall be delayed, and not without 
honour." 

p. 386. 

lis prennent kurs ordre-s, &c. 
•' They take orders from them without being conscious 
of it." 



P. 387. 
Me veterum frequens, &c. 

" Memphis wkh all her ancient pyramids offers me 

instruction : 



[ 559 ] 
instruction : the tear which falls over departed glory, the 
busts and mutilated statues of Roman worthies scattered up 
and down among the people, and the smouldering trunks of 
empires smoaking in ruins, present many an awful subject 
of admonition as I sit in silence and in sorrow*" 



P. 3 8 7 ._ 
Ecce iterum Crisplnus ! &c. 
<s Behold Crispinus again: I must often call upon him, 
a monster whose faults are not compensated by a single 
excellence." 



p. 3 88. 

Si tardius anus, &c. 

" If his limbs-had not yielded so quickly to the stroke, 
he might have deserved a second thunderbolt." 



P- 395- 
Dat operam, &c. 

" He toils and labours with a desire of uniting reason 

with madness." 



p. 39 e. _ 

Gros paquet de toile,. &c. 
** (He opens) his large bundle of clothes, green and red ; 
his suits of cloth#s all of one colour, and his second-hand 
.velvet suits a little' faded." 



p. 396. 

Vous etes bien heureux, 8cc. 
i( You are very fortunate in having applied to me, in 
preference to any other person. Heaven be praised, I carry 

on 



C 560 ] 

en ray profession in a plain, honest manner. I am the only 
old-clothes-man who has any morality about him.'* 



p. 39 6. 

E^O/XEV &t a TOV, &C» 

" We shall now have a criterion to distinguish THIS 
MAN from all other living beings, and be enabled thoroughly 
and distinctly to understand the whole of him/' 



P - 397-- 
Qui an travels de toute sa piete, &c. 

•• Who, in spite of afl his piety, certainly is not an author 
with impunity, (or without paying for itj, and who has 
the satisfaction of reclaiming women of dissipation, and of 
preserving spouses, shaken by seducing lovers, firm to their 
duty. But it cannot be said, that all his homilies, and his 
works, are equally strong and delicate/* 



P-397- 
Avoir pres de lui un ho-mme, &c. 

" To have with him a man (like myself) who knows 
something of literature, and wrkes a good hand, to make a 
Jair copy of his homilies ." 



' P - 397- 
Nil habuit in tenementi's. 



" He had nothing in the tenements/ 3 



p. 398. 

Doctor sanctissimus ille, &c. 
" The most sacred Doctor Gregorius who bedewed, and 

even 



even inebriated, the chureh with the honey-heavy dew of 
his preaching." 

p - 399* 
Per verita, e un gran capriccio, Sec. 

t{ In truth it is a great capriccio (or whimsical fancy) ; but 

in this he keeps up to his own style.'* 

?. 403- 

Pan etiara Arcadia, &c* 
" Pan would acknowledge himself vanquished, even by 
the decision of Arcadia" 



p. 403. 

Hos il lis dico, &c; 
" I address this observation to those who do not und^rstani 
me." 



P. 405. 
Temulentus videtur. 

" He seems rather insolent and flushed.' 4 

P. 408. 
In hos tota ruens, 

•' Rushing upon them with her whole force." 



P. 408. 
Te, Venus Regina, Sec* 
" O Venus, thou sovereign goddess, visit those temples 

where Warton and Steevens call upon thee m pious sacrifice. 5 ^ 



P. 408. 
Nobis non licet, &c. 
" We who cultivate the muses of a more chastised spirit, 
cannot indulge ourselves in such licentious freedom of 

speech." 

, Nn P. 411. 



C 5** ] 
P.411. 

Ergo omnis furiis, Sec. 
" All Etruria rose up together with just resentment, and 
with instant arms demanded that the king should be brought 
to * punishment" 



P. 412. 
Ense velut stricto, &c. 
" Lucilius, as with a drawn sword in hand, roused himself 
into ardent indignation." 



p. 4-4 

Nos genera, &c. 
" We only touch slightly on the various kinds of books; 
it is not our business to digest whole libraries." 



P.414; 

Non me Phcebi, &c. 
M The shrine of Phcebus has not deceived me.' 



p. 414. 

Gubernaclum non vi, &c. 

" He dragged headlong into the deep with himself the 
rudder (not torn from him, but voluntarily abandoned) 
which was committed to him, and by which he was 
engaged to direct the vessel." 



P. 418. 
Deus, in spatio, &c. 
•* The Deity, in infinite space, as in his own sensorinm., 
has an intimate perception of all things." 

. p. 4 . 9 . 

* The modern democratic word for murdering kings and priests. 



[ 563 ] 

P. 4 i9; 

Deus creavit, &c. 

" God created the universe; Linnxus disposed it in 
order!" 



P. 419* 
Stabat anhela metu, &c: 

" Nature stood in awful apprehension, looking upon the 
God who alone rules the elements !" . 



P. 421. 
Nolumus leges, &c. 
" We will not suffer the laws of Nature to be changed." 



P. 421. 

Nsa/xsvo. xaOoptzTGci. 

'* They are seen by the understanding.'* 



P. 422. 
Sunt lacrymas, &c. 

" Tears are a debt due to human misery, and the woes of 
mortality affect the mind." 



P. 424. 
Uoh'kav y.cci ovvsy^cov, &c. 

" The united effulgence of numerous and collected stars 
, shining together." 



P. 429. 
Tocvrx /xsv, Ixxvco; £{A<pu,vi<rou 9 &c, 
" We have given this narration, to the intent that the 
N XV 2 nature 



C 564 3 

nature of God may be made manifest to those who are 
ignorant of it, how various it is, and how manifold; and to 
convince them that all events come to pass in their appointed 
season, and that He declares what shall be hereafter. We 
have related these things to shew the ignorance and unbelief of 
men, by which they were not suffered to foresee any part of 
these events, and were delivered over to the calamities, 
without a mode or possibility of escaping them." 



p. 430. 

Av0pW9T£ T8 ©S8, 7TICTTS, &C« 

" Thou man of God, faithful minister and steward of the 
divine mysteries, thou man of the desires of the spirit, I 
call upon thee as a pillar and support of the church, holding* 
fast the word of life, and the main stay of faith, and the 
resting-place of the spirit.'* 

P. 43 1. 

iEacidas similes, &c. 

" Like Achilles himself, they wield the divine armour/' 



p. 431. 

Quid non libido, &c. 
" What cannot the wild wantonness of the human mind 
devise or raise up ? after what species of evil has it not an 
itching desire ? — Some men by malicious disputations 
question the rule and governance of the all-powerful God I 
In proportion to the wiliness of their language they cut up 
the principles of the Faith by petty shifts and prevarications ; 
and by convenient, pliable syllogisms they loosen or con- 
firm the consistency of every enquiry and examination after 
truth," 

P. 434- 



c 565 ] 

P-434- 

" He passeth from himself, as the image to the archetype, 
being already in the possession or enjoyment of the end of 
his earthly pilgrimage." 

P. 434. 
'Ourco Oswv, kgu avQpeoTrav, &C. 
" Such is the life of gods, and of godlike, happy, highly- 
favoured men : a deliverance and separation from the low 
cares of mortality ; a life which receives not its pleasures and 
satisfaction from the things of this world. It is an ascent or 
flight of the soul, which is one, simple, and uncompoundcd, 
to that Being who is One, and alone in an eminent and 
incommunicable sense, God Himself !" * 



P- 435- 

Tov ruv Acrrpwv, &c. 
*« The whole company of the Stars, and the great Sun 
Mmself, are not bodies of fire." 



P- 435- 

Tivp tv) ra/v Aarpctj]), Sec. 

'* A species of fire accommodated to the nature of the 
stars." 1 

P- 437- 

* The language of Plotinus in these passages is so sublime, 
and full of meaning, that without a paraphrase it is absolutely 
impossible to express the ideas contained in them, particularly 
in these few words, " <fruyn Mov* irpos MONON." The 
translator feels what every Greek scholar will experience on 
such an attempt. It is sufficient however if the sublimity of 
the ideas is apprehended by the reader. 

JS T n 3 



I 566 ] 

^ P-437- 

To too Mncawv Up'/i cWts*. 

*• Suclj is the sacred offering of the Muses. 



p <439- 
^.stuat ingens 

Imo in corde pudor, &c 

" Rage and sorrow mixed with shame are foaming in the 

depth of his soul, and love wrought up to madness, and 

conscious merit." 



S'io avessi le rime e aspre, &c. 

" If I were master of those harsh and rugged rhymes, 
which are adapted to the melancholy cavernous entrance, 
I would express the very inmost sap of my conceptions ; 
but as I feel myself wanting, it is not without fear and 
apprehension that I speak, for it is no ordinary enterprise tcr 
paint to the world at large the wonders of the Abyss!' 1 



P. 442. 
Negli alti vestigi, &c. 
" In the sublime track of mighty poets on the high and 
master^road." 



P. 444. 
Diis dilecte Sen ex, te Jupiter, &c. 

" Fortunate old man, favoured of heaven ! Jove himself, 

and Apollo, and the God of eloquence must have shed their 

mildest influence on your birth ; for no man can be the 

friend ofagreatPoet,who is not himself dear to the immortals, 

favoured 



[ 5$7 1 

Favoured thus, you enjoy a green and flowering old age ; 
the honours of your brow are preserved ; your understanding 
is vigorous, and your mind in full possession of it*s adult 
faculties. In the name therefore of Clio, and of the mighty 
Phcebus, all hail, thou venerable Mansus, hail for ages 
yet 



to come !' 



P.444. 
Tanto homini fidus, &x« 

<c A faithful friend to so great a man ; and a steady admirer 
jof such distinguished excellence." 



P.444. 
Vir vere magnus, &c. 
" A man truly great, if piety, integrity, probity, the 
highest erudition, and equal modesty with dignity of con- 
duct, are qualities which can be esteemed great." 



P. 445. 

TtkZVT'A T8 £*8, &C. 

" The close of his life was most illustrious ; and his own 
Athenians interred Him, (their beloved Physician,) on 
the very spot where he fell, with distinguished honours and 
veneration."* 



P. 445. 
Finem dignum et optimo, &c. 

" May they close their labours in a manner worthy of the 
character of men of virtue, and suitable to their consecrated 
works." 



N n 4 P. 446. 



[ 5^ ] 
P. 44 6. 

H luzka, Xvypms, 8cc. 
lt I have a message full of sorrow to deliver to you; 
would it were not so ! — Achilles is no more." 



p. 44 6. 

Xov fJU5Ti are Oavovr' Aojc^xj, &C. 
f e But even in death he was not left unpraised or unsung: 
for the virgins of Helicon encircled the pile and tomb of the 
hero, and chaunted their memorial dirge. It seemed good 
to the immortals, that so great a man should not pass from 
the world without the hymns and harmony of the Muses." 



p. 447. 

Remuneratio ejus cum Altissimo ! 
" His reward is with the Most High ! 



P. 449. 
Exornet aetatis, &c. 
May he add to the glories of this our age I" 



P- 453- 
Natura omnium partium, &c. 

" Nature creates and produces, at one and the same time, 
the rudiments and principles of the whole body, and of 
every component part." 



P. 454. 
Gnossius haec, &c. 
" The Cretan Rhadamanthus sways over these realms of 
unrelenting severity.'* 

nil . 1 

P. 460. 



[ 56 9 ] 

P. 454. 
Demonstro vitia ; tollite, &c. 

" I declare and demonstrate publicly the specific vices 
and crimes ; take them away ; I denounce to you the force 
intended to be called into action, the arms, and the instru- 
ments ; remove them," 



P. 455- 

IQvvm XQXOWf, 8cc, 

*' To direct the intellectual vessel to the heart. '* 



P- 455- 
Ad pecuini corpusculi, &c, 

To the vileness of the bestial body." 



P. 455- 
Ilium ne hominum quidem, &c. 

" They do not consider him among the number of rational 
men, so far are they from enrolling him among the 
citizens, whose institutions and manners he would ridicule 
and set at nought^ if he were not restrained by fear," 



p. 45 6. 

Nigidium vidi, &c. 

M I have seen the philosopher Nigidius, and I was 
acquainted with Cratippus." 



p, 458. 

•f A certain ignorance very grievous, which notwithstand- 
ing has the appearance pf the greatest wisdom/' 

" - > ■ 1. 1 .1 ■ 11 

P. 460. 



t 570 I 

p. 460. 

Abyssus abyssum invocat. 
*' One deep calleth upon another." 



P. 460. 

~" The storm, rushing with a mighty noise from the 
conflicting clouds, roared with a deep intonation." 



P. 46a 
Vera bona, atque illis, &c. 

«« The true goods of this life ; and those which are found to- 
pe essentially different, when the mist of error is dispersed." 



P. 460. 
Ttjv -^uyjiv pt,&, &C. 
" A sharp-edged sword pierceth through my soul.'* 



P. 462. 
Sic furiis Caci mens, &c. 
41 So ferocious and infuriate was the soul of Cacas : he 
left not a species of crime, wickedness, treachery, or fraud 
unattempted, or untried." 

P-463- 

" It is man : the name will explain or excuse the rest.'* 



p. 464. 

O KKipas o%vs, Sec, 
" Opportunity is instant ; experiment is- hazardous." 

p. 4 e 4 . 



[ hn ] 
p. 464. 

Licet quod videtur, &c. 
" Whatever they think proper they declare to be the 
national property ; and what they decree to be so, they 
expose to public sale." 

p. 464- 

Perspici non potest, &c. 
'* It cannot be determined, whether their severity is more 
grievous, or their alliance and favour more expensive to the 
objects of them." 



p. 465. 

TlTrziSzv ov&i rwy evop^avnyy, 8cc. 
" I am not of the number of those men who are perpetually 
troubling and disturbing you ; I hold not any office of trust, 
or of administration in the state. I therefore come forward 
with confidence, and denounce transactions and crimes like 
these." 



P. 466. 
Je ne veux point admettre dans les arrets de conseil, &c. 
" I would not allow the admission of a trivial truth in 
the decrees of council, or a clearness which is too easy 
and familiar. I choose to have a subtle kind of truth, an 
elegant perspicuity, a natural manner but not wholly without 
art, set off with words of pomp, unexpectedly raised with a 
roundness of phraseology, with intermediate vocatives, and 
indefinite adverbs" 

P. 466. 
**■ A treatise concerning Zoology. " 

p. 467- 



[ 572 ] 
P. 4 6 7 . 

ITgVTOQXOVTa Xf'VGCOl/, &c. 

" I want fifty pieces of gold ; I do not want letters. If 
you love me, give me money." 



p. 467. 

H YloXlTlXri XVplCOTCCTV), 8cc. 

" The science of Politics is the supreme and master- 
founder of the rest. It is her province to declare and ordain 
what sciences shall be cultivated in States, which of them is 
proper for each person, and to what point, and how far.— • 
We see already some of the most respectable powers bending 
under her dominion. 






P. 468. 
Ak t si vons saviez le Grec ! — Ceux, Sec, 

4< Oh, if you did but understand Greek ! — They who 
understand, or think they understand Hebrew, Arabic* 
Syriac, Coptic, Persian, or Chinese, think, and speak in th@ 
same manner, and for the same reasons." 



p. 469. 

To [xr, Sucrty'/ifAa. AayEiV, Sec. 

" All the ancients were very careful not to use words of 
an inauspicious sound, and in particular, the Athenians. 
They therefore did not call the Prison, the Executioner, or 
the Furies, by their direct appellations, but by softer terms *, 
such as a Mansion, a public minister, the venerable 
Goddesses, &c, &c. &c. 



P. 470. 
* The synonimous words will hardly bear a translation. 



t 573 i 

P. 470. 

Signa tamen, divumque tori, &c. 

n The statues, and the couches of the deities, and every 

spot which they had honoured with their presence and 

favour, are yet shewn." 



P. 471 . 

Avn T8 cwroctavai, &C. 
** Instead of giving a plain, open avowal of their opinions, 
they have recourse to sophisms, and glosses, and exceptions* 
and ( demurring ) declarations. Such is their character; 
snen without virtue, principle, or justice. 



p. 47 i. 

Cum rerro, cum metu, cum privilegio, &c. 
" With the sword, by terror, by pretended rights and 
privileges, with the collected bands of desperate and aban- 
doned wretches, by threats, by a nefarious league and 
union; — by these, and by such instruments and agents, 
they would hold the country in the bonds of servitude and 
oppression. They have set up the Statue of Liberty, as 
in mockery and derision, not with a religious reverence 
and respect." 



p. 472. 

Auream invenit, &c. 
" He found it of gold ; he left it of paper." 



p. 474. _ 

Non hoc ista sibi, &c. 
" The times demand not exhibitions such as these.' 



p -47£* 



E 574 ] 

P. 47 S . 
Non haec everso, &c. 

u It is not by such leagues and covenants as these, 
that he can preserve the Tuscan stream, and the palaces of 
Rome in an age of distraction and convulsion." 



P-475- . 
Non ante revel lar, &c. 

" I will not be torn away from thee, O Rome, till I 
embrace thee in thy last agony : thy name also, Liberty, 
will I venerate and cherish, and will follow after thy very 
shadow, even when it can avail no more." 



THE END OF THE CITATIONS 

IN THE FOURTH AND LAST DIALOGUE OF 

THE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. 



THE END. 






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